Threshold  Covenant 


,  Clay  Trumbull 


SEP  24 


3L6I  r 


THE 


THRESHOLD  COVENANT 


OR 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  RELIGIOUS  RITES 


H.    CLAY   TRUMBULL 

Author  of  "  Kadesh-barnea,"  "The  Blood  Covenant," 
"Studies  in  Oriental  Social  Life,"  etc. 


NEW    YORK 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 

1896 


Copyright,  1896 

BY 

H.  CLAY  TRUMBULL 


PREFACE. 


This  work  does  not  treat  of  the  origin  of  man's 
religious  faculty,  or  of  the  origin  of  the  sentiment  of 
religion  ;  nor  does  it  enter  the  domain  of  theological 
discussion.  It  simply  attempts  to  show  the  beginning 
of  religious  rites,  by  which  man  evidenced  a  belief, 
however  obtained,  in  the  possibility  of  covenant  rela- 
tions between  God  and  man ;  and  the  gradual  devel- 
opment of  those  rites,  with  the  progress  of  the  race 
toward  a  higher  degree  of  civilization  and  enlighten- 
ment. Necessarily  the  volume  is  not  addressed  to  a 
popular  audience,  but  to  students  in  the  lessons  of 
primitive  life  and  culture. 

In  a  former  volume,  "  The  Blood  Covenant,"  I 
sought  to  show  the  origin  of  sacrifice,  and  the  signifi- 
cance of  transferred  or  proffered  blood  or  life.  The 
facts  given  in  that  work  have  been  widely  accepted  as 
lying  at  the  basis  of  fundamental  doctrines  declared 
in  the  Hebrew  and  Christian  Scriptures,  and  have 
also  been  recognized  as  the  source  of  perverted  views 
which  have  had  prominence  in  the  principal  ethnic  re- 
ligions of  the  world.  Scholars  of  as  divergent  schools 
of  thought  as  Professors  William   Henry  Green  of 


iv  PREFACE. 

Princeton,  Charles  A.  Briggs  of  New  York,  George  E. 
Day  of  Yale,  John  A.  Broadus  of  Louisville,  Samuel 
Ives  Curtiss  of  Chicago,  President  Mark  Hopkins  of 
Williams,  Rev.  Drs.  Alfred  Edersheim  of  Oxford  and 
Cunningham  Geikie  of  Bournemouth,  Professor  Fred- 
eric Godet  of  Neuchatel,  and  many  others,  were  agreed 
in  recognizing  the  freshness  and  importance  of  its 
investigations,  and  the  value  of  its  conclusions.  Pro- 
fessor W.  Robertson  Smith,  of  Cambridge,  in  thanking 
me  for  that  work,  expressed  regret  that  he  had  not  seen 
it  before  writing  his  "  Kinship  and  Marriage  in  Early 
Arabia."  He  afterwards  made  repeated  mention  of 
the  work  as  an  authority  in  its  field,  in  his  Burnett 
Lectures  on  the  "  Religion  of  the  Semites." 

This  volume  grew  out  of  that  one.  It  looks  back 
to  a  still  earlier  date.  That  began  as  it  were  with 
Cain  and  Abel,  while  this  begins  with  Adam  and 
Eve.  It  was  while  preparing  a  Supplement  for  a 
second  edition  of  that  volume  that  the  main  idea  of 
this  work  assumed  such  importance  in  my  mind  that 
I  was  led  to  make  a  separate  study  of  it,  and  present 
it  independently.  The  special  theory  here  advanced 
is  wholly  a  result  of  induction.  The  theory  came 
out  of  the  gathered  facts,  instead  of  the  facts  being 
gathered  in  support  of  the  theory. 

Of  course,  these  facts  are  not  new,  but  it  is  believed 
that  their  synthetic  arrangement  is.     It  has  been  a 


PREFACE.  V 

favorite  method  with  students  of  primitive  religions 
to  point  out  widely  different  objects  of  primitive 
worship  and  their  corresponding  cults  among  dif- 
ferent peoples,  and  then  to  try  to  show  how  the  cere- 
monials of  the  Hebrew  and  Christian  Scriptures  were 
made  up  from  these  primitive  cults.  But  the  course 
of  investigation  here  pursued  seems  to  show  that 
the  earlier  cult  was  the  simple  one,  which  has  been 
developed  in  the  line  of  the  Bible  story,  and  that 
the  other  cults,  even  those  baser  and  more  degraded, 
are  only  natural  perversions  of  the  original  simple 
one.  This  is  a  reversal  of  the  usual  order  in  studies 
of  primitive  religious  rites.  Here  it  is  first  the 
simple,  then  the  complex ;  first  the  one  germ,  then 
the  many  varieties  of  growth  from  that  germ. 

As  this  particular  subject  of  investigation  seems  to 
be  a  hitherto  untrodden  field,  I  am  unable  to  refer  to 
any  published  works  as  my  principal  sources  of  in- 
formation. But  I  have  gathered  important  related 
facts  from  various  directions,  giving  full  credit  in  ex- 
plicit foot-notes,  page  by  page.  Many  added  facts 
confirmatory  of  my  position  might,  undoubtedly,  have 
been  found  through  yet  wider  and  more  discerning 
research,  and  they  will  be  brought  to  light  by  other 
gleaners  in  the  same  field.  Indeed,  a  chief  value  of 
this  volume  will  be  in  the  fresh  study  it  provokes  on 
the  part  of  those  whom  it  stimulates  to  more  thorough 


vi  PREFACE. 

investigation  in  the  direction  here  pointed  out.  And 
if  such  study  shows  an  added  agreement  between 
some  of  the  main  facts  of  modern  scientific  investiga- 
tion and  those  disclosed  in  the  Bible  narrative,  that 
will  not  be  a  matter  of  regret  to  any  fair-minded 
scholar. 

In  my  earlier  studies  for  this  work,  I  had  valuable 
assistance  from  the  late  Mr.  John  T.  Napier;  and  in 
my  later  researches  I  have  been  materially  assisted  by 
Professors  Herman  V.  Hilprecht,  E.  Washburn  Hop- 
kins, William  R.  Lamberton,  John  Henry  Wright, 
Robert  Ellis  Thompson,  Morris  Jastrow,  Jr.,  D.  G. 
Brinton,  Adolph  Erman,  W.  Max  Muller,  W,  Hayes 
Ward,  M.  B.  Riddle,  Minton  Warren,  Alfred  Gudeman, 
John  P.  Peters,  M.  W.  Easton,  and  A.  L.  Frothing- 
ham,  Jr.,  President  George  Washburn,  Rev.  Drs. 
Marcus  Jastrow,  H.  H.  Jessup,  George  A.  Ford,  Wil- 
liam W.  Eddy,  and  Benjamin  Labaree,  Rev.  William 
Ewing,  Rev.  Paulus  Moort,  Dr.  Talcott  Williams,  Dr. 
J.  Solis  Cohen,  Dr.  A.  T.  Clay,  Dr.  T.  H.  Powers 
Sailer,  Judge  Mayer  Sulzberger,  Mr.  S.  Schecter,  Mr. 
Frank  Hamilton  Cushing,  Captain  John  G.  Bourke, 
Mr.  Khaleel  Sarkis,  Mr.  John  T.  Haddad,  Mr.  Mon- 
tague Cockle,  Mr.  Le  Roy  Bliss  Peckham,  the  late 
Mr.  William  John  Potts,  and  other  specialists.  To 
all  these  I  return  my  sincere  thanks. 

Facts  and  suggestions  that  came  to  my  notice  after 


PREFACE.  vii 

the  main  work  was  completed,  or  that,  while  known 
to  me  before,  did  not  seem  to  have  a  place  in  the 
direct  presentation  of  the  argument,  have  been  given 
a  place  in  the  Appendix.  These  may  prove  helpful 
to  scholars  who  would  pursue  the  investigation  be- 
yond my  limits  of  treatment. 

Comments  of  eminent  specialists  in  Europe  and 
America,  to  whom  the  proof-sheets  of  the  volume 
were  submitted  before  publication,  are  given  in  a 
Supplement.  Important  additions  are  thus  made  to 
the  results  of  my  researches,  which  are  sure  to  be 
valued  accordingly. 

H.  C.  T. 

Philadelphia, 

Passover  Week,  i8g6. 


CONTENTS. 


I. 

PRIMITIVE  FAMILY  ALTAR. 

(i.)  A  Blood  Welcome  at  the  Door,  3.  (2.)  Reverence  for 
the  Threshold  Altar,  10.  (3.)  Threshold  Covenanting  in 
the  Marriage  Ceremony,  25.  (4.)  Stepping  or  Being  Lifted 
across  the  Threshold,  36.  (5.)  Laying  Foundations  in  Blood, 
45.  (6.)  Appeals  at  the  Altar,  57.  (7.)  Covenant  Tokens  on  the 
Doorway,  66.  (8.)  Symbol  of  the  Red  Hand,  74.  (9.)  Deities 
of  the  Doorway,  94. 

II. 

EARLIEST  TEMPLE  ALTAR. 

(1.)  From  House  to  Temple,  99.  (2.)  Sacredness  of  the  Door, 
102.  (3.)  Temple  Thresholds  in  Asia,  108.  (4.)  Temple  Thresh- 
olds in  Africa,  126.  (5.)  Temple  Thresholds  in  Europe,  132. 
(6.)  Temple  Thresholds  in  America,  144.  (7.)  Temple  Thresh- 
olds in  Islands  of  the  Sea,  148.    (8.)  Only  One  Foundation,  153. 


III. 

SACRED  BOUNDARY  LINE. 

(1.)  From  Temple  to  Domain,  165.    (2.)  Local  Landmarks,  166. 
(3.)  National  Borders,  177.    (4.)  Border  Sacrifices,  184. 

ix 


X  CONTENTS. 

IV. 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  RITE. 

(i.)  A  Natural  Question,  193.  (2.)  An  Answer  by  Induction, 
194.  (3.)  No  Covenant  without  Blood,  196.  (4.)  Confirmation 
of  this  View,  197. 

V. 

HEBREW  PASS-OVER,  OR  CROSS-OVER,  SACRIFICE. 

(1.)  New  Meaning  in  an  Old  Rite,  203.  (2.)  A  Welcome  with 
Blood,  204.  (3.)  Bason,  or  Threshold,  206.  (4.)  Pass-over  or 
Pass-by,  209.    (5.)  Marriage  of  Jehovah  with  Israel,  212. 


VI. 

CHRISTIAN  PASSOVER. 

(1.)  Old  Covenant  and  New,  215.  (2.)  Proffered  Welcome 
by  the  Father,  216.  (3.)  Bridegroom  and  Bride,  218.  (4.)  Sur- 
vivals of  the  Rite,  221. 

VII. 

OUTGROWTHS  AND  PERVERSIONS  OF  THIS  RITE. 

(1.)  Elemental  Beginnings,  223.  (2.)  Main  Outgrowths,  225. 
(3.)  Chief  Perversions,  228. 


APPENDIX. 

Significance  of  Blood  in  the  Marriage  Rite,  243.  Exhibit- 
ing the  Evidences,  245.  Substitute  Blood  for  Deception,  248. 
Public  Performance  of  the  Rite,  250.    Bible  Testimony,  251. 


CONTENTS.  xi 

Woman  as  a  Door,  252.  Symbolism  of  the  Two  Sexes,  257.  Sym- 
bolism of  Tree  and  Serpent,  258.  Covenant  of  Threshold- 
Crossing,  259.  Doorkeeper,  and  Carrier,  263.  Passing  over 
into  a  Covenant,  266.    England's  Coronation  Stone,  268. 


INDEXES. 

Topical  Index,  273.    Scriptural  Index,  301. 


SUPPLEMENT. 

COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS. 

From  the  Rev.  Dr.  Marcus  Jastrow,  307.  From  Professor 
Dr.  Herman  V.  Hilprecht,  309.  From  Professor  Dr.  Fritz 
Hommel,  313.  From  Professor  Dr.  A.  H.  Sayce,  314.  From  Pro- 
fessor Dr.  W.  Max  Muller,  315.  From  Professor  Dr.  C.  P. 
Tiele,  317.  From  Professor  Dr.  E.  Washburn  Hopkins,  318. 
From  the  Rev.  Dr.  William  Elliot  Griffis,  319.  From  Pro- 
fessor Dr.  John  P.  Mahaffy,  324.  From  Professor  Dr.  William 
A.  Lamberton,  326.  From  Professor  Dr.  Daniel  G.  Brinton, 
328.  From  the  Rev.  Dr.  Edward  T.  Bartlett,  329.  From  Pro- 
fessor Dr.  T.  K.  Cheyne,  330.  Additional  from  Professor  Dr. 
Fritz  Hommel,  333. 


THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 


I. 

PRIMITIVE  FAMILY  ALTAR. 


I.  A  BLOOD  WELCOME  AT  THE  DOOR. 

The  primitive  altar  of  the  family  would  seem  to 
have  been  the  threshold,  or  door -sill,  or  entrance- 
way,  of  the  home  dwelling-place.  This  is  indicated 
by  surviving  customs,  in  the  East  and  elsewhere 
among  primitive  peoples,  and  by  the  earliest  historic 
records  of  the  human  race.  It  is  obvious  that  houses 
preceded  temples,  and  that  the  house-father  was  the 
earliest  priest.  Sacrifices  for  the  family  were,  there- 
fore, within  or  at  the  entrance  of  the  family  domicile. 

In  Syria  and  in  Egypt,  at  the  present  time,  when 
a  guest  who  is  worthy  of  special  honor  is  to  be  wel- 
comed to  a  home,  the  blood  of  a  slaughtered,  or  a 
"  sacrificed,"  animal  is  shed  on  the  threshold  of  that 
home,  as  a  means  of  adopting  the  new-comer  into  the 
family,  or  of  making  a  covenant  union  with  him.  And 
every  such  primitive  covenant  in  blood  includes  an 
appeal   to   the   protecting    Deity  to    ratify  it   as  be- 

3 


4  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

tween  the  two  parties  and  himself.1  While  the  guest 
is  still  outside,  the  host  takes  a  lamb,  or  a  goat,  and, 
tying  its  feet  together,  lays  it  upon  the  threshold 
of  his  door.  Resting  his  left  knee  upon  the  bound 
victim,  the  host  holds  its  head  by  his  left  hand,  while 
with  his  right  he  cuts  its  throat.  He  retains  his 
position  until  all  the  blood  has  flowed  from  the  body 
upon  the  threshold.  Then  the  victim  is  removed, 
and  the  guest  steps  over  the  blood,  across  the  thresh- 
old ;  and  in  this  act  he  becomes,  as  it  were,  a  member 
of  the  family  by  the  Threshold  Covenant. 

The  flesh  of  the  slaughtered  animal  is  usually  given 
to  the  neighbors,  although  in  the  case  of  humbler 
persons  it  is  sometimes  used  for  the  meal  of  the  guest 
in  whose  honor  it  is  sacrificed.  It  may  be  a  larger 
offering  than  a  lamb  or  a  goat,  or  it  may  be  a  smaller 
one.  Sometimes  several  sheep  are  included  in  the 
sacrifice.  Again,  the  offering  may  be  a  bullock  or  a 
heifer,  or  simply  a  fowl  or  a  pair  of  pigeons.  The  more 
costly  the  gift,  in  proportion  to  the  means  of  the  host, 
the  greater  the  honor  to  him  who  is  welcomed. 

As  illustrative  of  this  idea,  a  story  is  commonly  told 
in  Syria  of  a  large-hearted  man  who  gave  proof  of  his 
exceptional  devotedness  to  an  honored  guest.  He 
had  a  horse  which  he  prized  as  only  an  Oriental  can 
prize  and  love  one.     This  horse  he  sent  to  meet  his 

1  See  Trumbull's  Blood  Covenant,  passim. 


BLOOD  AND  ITS  SUBSTITUTES.  5 

guest,  in  order  that  it  might  bring  him  to  the  home 
of  its  owner.  When  the  guest  reached  the  house  and 
dismounted,  he  spoke  warm  words  in  praise  of  the  noble 
animal.  At  once  the  host  led  the  horse  to  the  house 
door,  and  cut  its  throat  over  the  threshold,  asking  the 
guest  to  step  over  the  blood  of  this  costly  offering,  in 
acceptance  of  the  proffered  Threshold  Covenant. 

"If  you  know  that  one  is  coming  whom  you  would 
honor  and  welcome,  you  must  make  ready  to  have 
the  blood  on  the  threshold  when  he  appears,"  said  a 
native  Syrian.  In  case  an  honored  guest  arrives  un- 
expectedly, so  that  there  is  no  time  to  prepare  the 
customary  sacrifice,  salt,  as  representing  blood,  may 
be  sprinkled  on  the  threshold,  for  the  guest  to  pass 
over;  or  again  coffee,  as  the  Muhammadan  substitute 
for  the  "  blood  of  the  grape,"  l  may  be  poured  on  it.2 

Crossing  the  threshold,  or  entering  the  door,  of  a 
house,  is  in  itself  an  implied  covenant  with  those  who 
are  within,  as  shown  by  the  earlier  laws  of  India.  He 
who  goes  in  by  the  door  must  count  himself,  and 
must  be  recognized,  as  a  guest,  subject  to  the  strictest 
laws  of  hospitality.  But  if  he  enters  the  house  in 
some  other  way,  not  crossing  the  threshold,  there  is 

1See  Trumbull's  Blood  Covenant,  pp.  191  f.,  370;  also  Frazer's  Golden 
Bough,  I.,  183-185. 

2  These  facts  I  have  obtained  at  different  times  in  personal  conversa- 
tions with  intelligent  natives  of  Syria  and  of  Egypt.  It  will  be  seen,  later, 
how  thev  are  verified  in  the  record  of  similar  customs  elsewhere. 


6  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

no  such  implied  covenant  on  his  part.  He  may  then 
even  despoil  or  kill  the  head  of  the  house  he  has 
entered,  without  any  breach  of  the  law  of  hospitality, 
or  of  the  moral  law  as  there  understood.1  Illus- 
trations of  this  truth  are  found  in  the  Mahabharata, 
as  applicable  to  both  a  house  and  a  city.2  "  It  is  in 
accordance  with  the  strict  law  of  all  the  law  books," 
of  ancient  India,  "  that  one  may  enter  his  foe's  house 
by  a-dvara,  '  not  by  door,'  but  his  friend's  house  only 
'  by  door.'  "  3 

It  would  seem  to  have  been  in  accordance  with  this 
primitive  law  of  the  East  that  Jesus  said  :  "  He  that 
entereth  not  by  the  door  into  the  fold  of  the  sheep, 
but  climbeth  up  some  other  way,  the  same  is  a  thief 
and  a  robber.     But  he  that  entereth  in  by  the  door  is 

the  shepherd  of  the  sheep I  am  the  door :  by  me 

if  any  man  enter  in,  he  shall  be  saved,  and  shall  go  in 
and  go  out,  and  shall  find  pasture.  The  thief  cometh 
not,  but  that  he  may  steal,  and  kill,  and  destroy :  I 
came  that  they  may  have  life,  and  may  have  it 
abundantly."  * 

It  is  possible  that  there  is  an  explanation,  in  this 
law  of  the  doorway,  or  threshold,  of  the  common 
practice  among  primitive  Scandinavians   of  attacking 

1  See  Hopkins's  Religions  of  India,  p.  362  f. 

2  Ibid.,  with  references  to  Mahabharata,  II.,  21, 14,  53  ;  X.,  8,  10. 

3  Ibid.,  with  references  to  Laws  of  Manu,  IV.,  73,  and  toGaut.Q  :  32. 

*  John  10  :  1,  2,  9,  10. 


CUSTOMS  IN  EG  YPT.  7 

the  inmates  of  an  enemy's  house  through  the  roof 
instead  of  by  the  door;1  also,  of  the  custom  in  Greece 
of  welcoming  a  victor  in  the  Olympian  games  into  his 
city  through  a  breach  in  the  walls,  instead  of  causing 
him  to  enter  by  the  gates,  with  its  implied  subjection 
to  all  the  laws  of  hospitality.2     (See  Appendix.) 

Examples  of  the  blood  welcome  at  the  threshold 
abound  in  modern  Egyptian  customs.  When  the  new 
khedive  came  to  his  palace,  in  1882,  a  threshold  sacri- 
fice was  offered  as  his  welcome.  "At  the  entrance  to 
the  palace  six  buffaloes  were  slaughtered,  two  being 
killed  just  as  the  khedive's  carriage  reached  the  gate- 
way. The  blood  of  the  animals  was  splashed  across 
the  entrance,  so  that  the  horses'  hoofs  and  wheels  of 
the  carriage  passed  through  it.  The  flesh  was  after- 
wards distributed  among  the  poor." 3 

When  General  Grant  was  at  Assioot,  on  the  Upper 
Nile,  during  his  journey  around  the  world,  he  was 
doubly  welcomed  as  a  guest  by  the  American  vice- 
consul,  who  was  a  native  of  Egypt.  A  bullock  was 
sacrificed  at  the  steamer  landing,  and  its  head  was 
laid  on  one  side  of  the  gang-plank,  and  its  body  on 
the  other.  The  outpoured  blood  was  between  the 
head  and  the  body,  under  the  gang-plank,  so  that,  in 

1  See  Lund's  Every-day  Life  in  Scandinavia  in  the  Sixteenth  Century, 
p.  16,  with  note  36 ;  also,  the  Njals  Saga. 

2  See  Smith's  Diet,  of  Greek  and  Roman  Antiq.,  s.  vv.  "Athletae"  and 
'  Olympic  Games ;  "  also  Gardner's  New  Chapters  in  Greek  History,  p.  299. 

3  See  London  Folk- Lore  Journal,  I.,  92. 


8  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

stepping  from  the  steamer  to  the  shore,  General  Grant 
would  cross  over  it.  When  he  reached  the  house  of 
the  vice-consul,  a  sheep  was  similarly  sacrificed  at  the 
threshold,  in  such  a  way  that  General  Grant  passed 
over  the  blood  in  entering-.1 

It  is  also  said  in  Egypt :  "  If  you  buy  a  dahabiyeh," 
and  therefore  are  to  cross  its  threshold  for  the  occu- 
pancy of  your  new  home  on  the  water,  "  you  must 
kill  a  sheep,  letting  the  blood  flow  on  the  deck,  or 
side,  of  the  boat,  in  order  that  it  may  be  lucky. 
Your  friends  will  afterwards  have  to  dine  on  the 
sheep."2  There  seems,  indeed,  to  be  a  survival  of 
this  idea  in  the  custom  of  "christening"  a  ship  at  the 
time  of  its  launching,  in  England  and  America,  a 
bottle  of  wine — the  "blood  of  the  grape"3 — being 
broken  on  the  bow  of  the  vessel  as  it  crosses  the 
threshold  of  the  deep.  And  a  feast  usually  follows 
this  ceremony  also.4 

In  Zindero,  or  Gingiro,  or  Zinder,  in  Central  Africa, 
a  new  king  is  welcomed  at  the  royal  residence  with 
a  bloody  threshold  offering.  "Before  he  enters  his 
palace  two  men  are  to  be  slain ;  one  at  the  foot  of 
the  tree  by  which  his  house   is   chiefly  supported; 

1  These  facts  were  given  me  by  a  member  of  the  vice-consul's  family, 
who  witnessed  the  ceremony.     The  preparations  were  made  before  the 
arrival  of  General  Grant ;  and  they  were  not  prominent  in  the  sight  of 
himself  or  party.     They  were  simply  the  customs  of  the  country. 
2  Prof.  A.  H.  Sayce,  in  London  Folk-Lore,  I.,  523. 

3  Comp.  with  p.  5,  supra.  *  Comp.  with  p.  71  f.,  infra. 


IN  AFRICA  AND  EUROPE.  9 

the  other  at  the  threshold  of  his  door,  which  is 
besmeared  with  the  blood  of  the  victim.  And  it  is 
said  .  .  .  that  the  particular  family,  whose  privilege 
it  is  to  be  slaughtered,  so  far  from  avoiding  it,  glory 
in  the  occasion,  and  offer  themselves  willingly  to 
meet  it."  1 

Among  the  Arabs  in  Central  Africa,  the  blood 
welcome  of  a  guest  at  the  threshold  of  a  home  is  a 
prevailing  custom.  "  The  usual  welcome  upon  the 
arrival  of  a  traveler,  who  is  well  received  in  an  Arab 
camp,  is  the  sacrifice  of  a  fat  sheep,  that  should  be 
slaughtered  at  the  door  of  the  hut  or  tent,  so  that  the 
blood  flows  to  the  threshold." 2 

On  the  arrival  of  strangers  among  the  primitive 
tribes  of  Liberia,  in  West  Africa,  a  fowl  is  killed,  and 
its  blood  is  sprinkled  at  the  doorway.3 

Receiving  an  honored  guest  with  biead  and  salt,  at 
the  threshold  of  the  house  he  enters,  is  common  in 
Russia.  Bread  and  salt  are  symbolic,  in  primitive 
thought,  of  flesh  and  blood ;  and  this  threshold  wel- 
come seems  to  be  a  survival  of  the  threshold  sacrifice.4 

To  step  over  or  across  the  blood,  or  its  substitute, 
on  the  door-sill,  is  to  accept  or  ratify  the  proffered 
covenant;    but  to  trample   upon  the  symbol  of  the 

1  Bruce's  Travels,  Bk.  II.,  p.  514. 

2  Baker's  Nile  Tributaries  of  Abyssinia,  p.   137;    comp.  126  f. 

3  On  the  testimony  of  a  Liberian  colored  clergyman. 

4  See,  for  example,  Sir  Robert  Ker  Porter's  Travels,  p.  36  f. 


10  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

covenant  is  to  show  contempt  for  the  host  who  prof- 
fers it,  and  no  greater  indignity  than  this  is  known  in 
the  realm  of  primitive  social  intercourse. 

2.  REVERENCE  FOR  THE  THRESHOLD  ALTAR. 

The  threshold,  as  the  family  altar  on  which  the 
sacrificial  blood  of  a  covenant  welcome  is  poured  out, 
is  counted  sacred,  and  is  not  to  be  stepped  upon,  or 
passed  over  lightly;  but  it  is  to  be  crossed  over  rever- 
ently, as  in  recognition  of  Him  to  whom  all  life  be- 
longs. "  On  passing  the  threshold,"  in  Arabia,  "  it  is 
proper  to  say,  '  Bismillah/  that  is,  '  In  the  name  of 
God.'  Not  to  do  so  would  be  looked  upon  as  a  bad 
augury,  alike  for  him  who  enters  and  for  those 
within."  1  In  Syria  the  belief  prevails  "  that  it  is  un- 
lucky to  tread  on  a  threshold."  When  they  receive 
a  new  member  to  their  sect,  the  Bektashi  derwishes 
of  Syria  bring  him  to  the  threshold,  and  prayers  and 
sacrifices  are  offered  "  on  the  door-sill."  2 

"  The  khaleefs  of  Bagdad  required  all  those  who 
entered  their  palace  to  prostrate  themselves  on  the 
threshold  of  the  gate,  where  they  had  inserted  a  frag- 
ment of  the  black  stone  of  the  temple  at  Meccah,  in 
order  to   render    it   [the   threshold]    more   venerable 

1  Palgrave's  Personal  Narrative  of  a  Journey  through  Central  and 
Eastern  Arabia,  I.,  SI, 

2  Conder's  Heth  and  Moab,  pp.  290,  293. 


A  DOUBLE  WELCOME.  II 

to  those  who  had  been  accustomed  to  press  their 
foreheads  against  it.  The  threshold  was  of  some 
height,  and  it  was  a  crime  to  set  foot  upon  it."  In 
the  advice  which  Nurshivan  gives  to  his  son  Hormuz, 
he  recommends  him  to  betake  himself  to  the  thresh- 
old of  the  Lord ;  that  is,  to  the  "  presence  of  God, 
in  the  same  fashion  in  which  the  poor  do,  at  the  gates 
of  the  rich.  '  Since  you  are  his  slave,'  he  says,  '  set 
your  forehead  on  his  threshold.'  "  l 

Among  the  Hindoos,  "the  threshold  is  .  .  .  sacred 
in  private  houses ;  it  is  not  propitious  for  a  person  to 
remain  on  it ;  neither  to  eat,  sneeze,  yawn,  nor  spit 
whilst  there." 2 

A  double  welcome  is  sometimes  given  to  one  who 
is  in  an  official  position.  Thus,  a  Syrian,  who  held  a 
commission  from  the  chief  officer  of  customs  in  Upper 
Syria,  was  surprised  at  having  two  sheep  sacrificed 
before  him  as  he  approached  the  door  of  a  house  east 
of  the  Sea  of  Galilee ;  and  he  graciously  protested 
against  the  excessive  honor  shown  him.  "  One  sheep 
is  to  welcome  yourself  as  a  man,  and  the  other  is  to 
welcome  you  as  an  officer  of  the  government,"  was 
the  answer.  Loyalty  as  well  as  hospitality  was  indi- 
cated in  these  threshold  sacrifices. 

Sacredness  attaches  to  the  threshold  in  Persia.     It 

1D'Herbelot's  Bibliotheque  Orientale,  s.  v.  "Bab,"  p.  157. 
2  Roberts's  Oriental  Illus.  of  Scrip. ,  p.  149. 


12  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

must  not  be  trodden  on ;  but  it  is  often  kissed  by 
those  who  would  step  over  it.1 

A  man  should  always  cross  himself  when  he  steps 
over  a  threshold  in  Russia ;  and,  in  some  portions  of 
the  realm,  it  is  believed  that  he  ought  not  to  sit  down 
on  the  threshold.2 

High  sills,  or  thresholds,  so  that  one  must  step 
over,  and  not  on,  them,  are  in  the  houses  of  Finland, 
and  in  the  houses  of  many  Finns  in  the  United  States.3 
The  same  was  true  of  many  Teutonic  houses.4 

To  shake  hands  across  a  threshold,  instead  of  cross- 
ing it,  is  said,  in  Finland,  to  ensure  a  quarrel.5  To 
step  over  a  threshold  is,  in  Lapland,  to  bring  one 
under  the  protection  of  the  family  within,  and  of 
its  guardian  deity.6  The  same  is  true  among  the 
Magyars.7 

The  ancient  Pythagoreans  quoted  various  maxims, 
supposed  to  be  from  the  sayings  of  their  great  founder, 
as  teaching  important  lessons  for  all  time.  In  these 
maxims  there  were  indications  of  a  peculiar  rever- 
ence for  the  threshold  and  doorway.  Thus  :  "  He 
who  strikes  his  foot  against  the  threshold  should  go 

1  Morier's  Second  Journey  through  Persia,  p.  254. 
2  Ralston's  Songs  of  the  Russian  People,  p.  137. 
3  On  the  testimony  of  a  Finnish  American. 
4  Lund's  Every-day  Life  in  Scandinavia  in  the  Sixteenth  Century,  p.  12  f. 

5  Jones  and  Kropf's  Folk-Tales  of  Magyars,  p.  410,  note. 
6  Ibid.,  p.  410  f.  7  Ibid.,  p.  259. 


SA  CREDNESS  OF  BOUND AR  Y  LINE.  1 3 

back ; "  it  were  unsafe  to  pursue  a  movement  so  in- 
auspiciously  begun.  And,  again  :  "  The  doors  should 
be  kissed  fondly  by  those  who  enter  or  depart"1 

"  Treading  on  the  threshold  was  .  .  .  tabooed  by  the 
Tatars."2  Again,  on  the  other  side  of  the  globe,  in 
Samoa,  to  spill  water  on  the  door-step,  or  threshold, 
when  food  is  brought  in,  is  a  cause  of  anger  to  the  pro- 
tecting deity  of  the  family.     It  may  drive  him  away.3 

In  Europe  and  in  America  it  is  by  many  counted 
an  ill  omen  to  tread  upon  the  threshold  of  the  door 
on  entering  a  house.  To  the  present  day,  in  portions 
of  Scotland,  the  idea  popularly  prevails,  that  to  tread 
directly  upon  the  boundary  lines  of  division  between 
ordinary  flagstones  is  to  endanger  one's  soul;  hence 
the  very  children  are  careful  to  avoid  stepping  upon 
those  lines,  in  their  walking  across  the  courtyards  or 
along  the  streets,  in  their  every-day  passing. 

Many  a  person  in  the  United  States,  who  knows 
nothing  of  any  superstition  connected  with  this,  avoids, 
if  possible,  stepping  on,  instead  of  over,  the  cracks  or 
seams  of  a  board  walk,  or  even  the  seams  of  a  carpet. 

All  these  customs  seem  to  be  a  survival  of  the  feel- 
ing that  the  threshold  is  sacred  as  the  primitive  altar. 

1  Fragmenta  Philosophorum  Grcecorum  (ed.  Mullach),  I.,  510. 
2  See  "  Marriage  Customs  of  the    Mordvins,"   in    London  Folk- Lore, 
I.,  459,  note;  also,  Bergeron's    "Voyage  de  Calpin,"  cap.   10,  cited  in 
Burder's  Oriental  Customs  (2d  ed.),  p.  24. 

3  Turner's  Samoa,  p.  37. 


14  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

Apart  from  the  reverence  for  the  threshold  de- 
manded of  those  who  pass  over  it,  there  is  an  obvious 
sanctity  of  the  threshold  recognized  in  the  placing  of 
images  and  amulets  underneath  it,  and  in  the  sacrifices 
and  offerings  placed  on  it,  as  a  means  of  guarding  the 
dwelling  within. 

In  the  building  of  private  houses,  as  well  as  tem- 
ples, and  city  gateways,  in  ancient  Assyria,  images  of 
various  kinds  and  sizes,  "  in  bronze,  red  jasper,  yellow 
stone,  and  baked  earth,  .  .  .  are  buried  beneath  the 
stones  of  the  threshold,  so  as  to  bar  the  entrance  to 
all  destructive  spirits."  Invocations  are  graven  upon 
these  figures.1 

Herodotus  mentions 2  that,  in  the  annual  feast  in 
honor  of  the  god  Osiris,  "every  Egyptian  sacrifices  a 
hog  before  the  door  of  his  house"  on  the  evening 
before  the  festival.  Osiris  was  the  god  who  was  the 
judge  of  the  soul  after  death,  and  who  in  a  peculiar 
sense  stood  for  the  truth  of  the  life  to  come.  Every 
Egyptian  desired,  above  all,  to  be  in  loving  covenant 
with  Osiris,  and  when  he  would  offer  a  welcom- 
ing sacrifice  to  him,  he  did  so  before  the  door  of  his 
own  house,  as  before  the  primitive  family  altar.  That 
it  was  the  blood  poured  out  at  the  threshold  which 
was  the  essential  act  of  covenanting  in  this  sacrifice  to 

1  See  Maspero's  Life  in  Ancient  Egypt  and  Assyria,  pp.  195,  219. 
2  Rawlinson's  History  of  Herodotus,  II.,  47,  48. 


HINDOO  OFFERINGS.  1 5 

Osiris,  is  evidenced  in  the  fact  that  the  animal  sacri- 
ficed was  not  eaten  in  the  family  of  the  sacrificer,  but 
was  carried  away  by  the  swineherd  who  furnished  it. 

Bunches  of  grass  dipped  in  blood,  and  touched  by 
the  king,  as  if  made  representative  of  his  dignity  and 
power,  are  to-day  placed  on  the  threshold,  as  an  offer- 
ing, and  as  averters  of  evil,  in  Equatorial  Africa.  This 
is  known  there  as  an  ancient  custom.  In  Uganda, 
"every  house  has  charms  hung  on  the  door,  and 
others  laid  on  the  threshold."  An  offering  to  the 
lubare,  or  local  spirit,  must  be  thrown  across  the 
threshold,  from  within  the  house,  before  a  native 
ventures  to  leave  his  home  in  the  morning.1  Charms 
for  this  purpose  are  kept  behind  the  door. 

One  of  the  requirements  in  the  Vedic  law  (the  sacred 
law  of  the  Hindoos)  was,  that  "  on  the  door-sill  (a  bali 
must  be  placed)  with  a  mantra  addressed  to  Antariksha 
(the  air),"2  by  a  house  father,  in  his  home;3  that  is, 
that  an  offering,  with  an  invocation  to  a  deity,  should 
be  a  sacrifice  at  the  threshold  altar.  Other  references 
in  the  Hindoo  laws  seem  to  demand  bali  offerings 

1  Mackay's  Mackay  of  Uganda,  pp.  112  f.,  177. 

2  See  "Sacred  Laws  of  the  Aryas,"  II.,  2,  4,  in  Sacred  Books  of  the 
East,  II.,  107. 

3"A  ^a// is  an  offering  of  any  sort,  such  as  a  handful  of  rice,  flung  to  birds 
or  spirits  or  waters,  or  to  any  supernatural  beings.  A  mantra  is  a  Vedic 
text,  a  verse  muttered  during  a  religious  ceremony ;  often  used  in  incan- 
tations, or  in  legitimate  services  to  a  god." — PROF.  Dr.  E.  W.  HOPKINS. 


1 6  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

"at  all  the  doors,  as  many  as  they  are,"  in  a  house, 
and  evidence  the  importance  and  sacredness  attach- 
ing to  the  doorway.1 

The  threshold  seems  to  have  special  reverence  in 
Northwestern  India,  in  connection  with  the  seasons 
of  seedtime  and  harvest.  At  seedtime  "  a  cake  of 
cowdung  formed  into  a  cup  "  is  placed  on  the  thresh- 
old of  the  householder;  it  is  filled  with  corn,  and 
then  water  is  poured  over  it  as  a  libation  to  the  dei- 
ties. Cowdung  is  not  only  a  means  of  enrichment  to 
the  soil,  but  it  is  a  gift  from  the  sacred  cow,  and  so,  in 
a  sense,  represents  or  stands  for  the  life  of  the  cow. 
It  is  laid  on  the  threshold  altar  as  an  offering  of  life. 
The  libation  of  water  is  an  accompaniment  of  that 
offering ;  water  is  essential  to  life  and  growth,  and  it 
is  a  gift  of  the  gods  accordingly.  Seed-sowing  is 
recognized  as  an  act  which  needs  the  blessing  of  the 
gods,  and  on  which  that  blessing  is  sought  in  cove- 
nant relations. 

At  early  harvest  time  the  first-fruits  of  the  grain-field 
are  not  taken  to  the  threshing-floor,  but  are  brought 
home  to  be  presented  to  the  gods  at  the  household 
altar,  and  afterwards  eaten  by  the  family,  with  a  por- 
tion given  to  the  Brahmans.  The  first  bundle  of  corn 
is  deposited  at  the  threshold  of  the  home,  and  a  liba- 

1  See  "  Sacred  Laws  of  the  Aryas,"  V.,  12,  in  Sacred  Books  of  the  East, 
II.,  200,  233. 


IRON  ON  THE  DOOR-SILL.  1 7 

tion  of  water  is  made  as  a  completion  of  its  offering. 
The  grain  being  taken  from  the  ear,  of  a  portion  of 
this  first-fruits,  is  mixed  with  milk  and  sugar,  and 
every  member  of  the  family  tastes  it  seven  times.1 

Among  the  Prabhus  of  Bombay,  at  the  time  of  the 
birth  of  a  child,  an  iron  crowbar  is  placed  "  along 
the  threshold  of  the  room  of  confinement,  as  a  check 
against  the  crossing  of  any  evil  spirit."  This  is  in 
accordance  with  a  Hindoo  belief  that  evil  spirits  keep 
aloof  from  iron,  "  and  even  nowadays  pieces  of  horse- 
shoe can  be  seen  nailed  to  the  bottom  sills  of  doors 
of  native  houses."2  Iron  seems,  in  various  lands,  to 
be  deemed  of  peculiar  value  as  a  guard  against  evil 
spirits,  and  the  threshold  to  be  the  place  for  its  effi- 
cacious fixing. 

Similarly,  "  in  East  Bothnia,  when  the  cows  are 
taken  out  of  their  winter  quarters  for  the  first  time, 
an  iron  bar  is  laid  before  the  threshold,  over  which 
all  the  cows  must  pass  ;  for,  if  they  do  not,  there 
will  be  nothing  but  trouble  with  them  all  the  follow- 
ing summer."3 

Among  the  folk  customs  in  the  line  of  exorcism 
and  divination  in  Italy,  the  threshold  has  prominence. 
"  In  Tuscany,  much  taking  of  magical  medicine  is 

1  See  Sir  Henry  M.  Elliot's  Races  of  the  Northwestern  Provinces  of 
India  (Beames's  ed.),  I.,  197. 

2  See  report  of  a  meeting  of  the  Bombay  Anthropological  Society,  in 
London  Folk- Lore  Journal,  VI.,  p.  77. 

3  Jones  and  Kropf's  Folk-Tales  of  Magyars,  p.  410  f.,  note. 
2 


1 8  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

done  on  the  threshold ;  it  also  plays  a  part  in  other 
sorcery."1  A  writer  mentions  a  method  of  exorcism 
with  incense,  where  three  pinches  of  the  best  incense, 
and  three  of  the  second  quality,  are  put  in  a  row  on  the 
threshold  of  the  door,  and  then,  after  other  incense  is 
burned  within  the  house  in  an  earthen  fire-dish,  these 
"  little  piles  of  incense  on  the  threshold  of  the  door" 
are  lighted,  with  words  of  invocation.  This  process  is 
repeated  three  times  over.2 

A  method  of  curing  a  disorder  of  the  wrist  preva- 
lent in  harvest  time,  in  North  Germany,  is  by  taking 
"  three  pieces  of  three-jointed  straw,"  and  so  laying 
them  "  side  by  side  as  to  correspond  joint  by  joint," 
then  chopping  through  the  first  joint  into  the  block  be- 
neath. This  "  ceremony  is  performed  on  the  threshold, 
and  ends  with  the  sign  of  the  cross."3 

Observances  with  reference  to  the  threshold  are 
numerous  in  Russia.  "  On  it  a  cross  is  drawn  to  keep 
off  maras  (hags).  Under  it  the  peasants  bury  stillborn 
children.  In  Lithuania,  when  a  new  house  is  being 
built,  a  wooden  cross,  or  some  article  which  has  been 
handed  down  from  past  generations,  is  placed  under 
the  threshold.  There  also  when  a  newly  baptized 
child  is  being  brought  back  from  church,  it  is  custom- 
ary for  its  father  to  hold  it  for  a  while  over  the  thresh- 

1  Leland's  Etruscan  Roman  Remains  in  Popular  Tradition,  p.  282. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  321  f. 

3  Jones  and  Kropfs  Folk-Tales  of  Magyars,  p.  332  f. 


CHARMS  UNDER  THE  DOOR-STEP.  1 9 

old,  '  so  as  to  place  the  new  member  of  the  family 
under  the  protection  of  the  domestic  divinities  ' 
[bringing  it  newly  into  the  family  covenant  at  the 
threshold  altar].  .  .  .  Sick  children,  who  are  supposed 
to  have  been  afflicted  by  an  evil  eye,  are  washed  on 
the  threshold  of  their  cottage,  in  order  that,  with  the 
help  of  the  Penates  who  reside  there,  the  malady 
may  be  driven  out  of  doors."1 

At  the  annual  feast  known  as  "  Death  Week," 
among  Slavonic  peoples,  marking  the  close  of  winter 
and  the  beginning  of  spring,  the  peasants  m  rural 
Russia  combine  for  a  sacrifice  to  appease  the  "  Vod- 
yaoui,"  or  aroused  water-spirit  of  the  thawing  streams. 
They  also  prepare  a  sacrifice  for  the  "  Domovoi  "  or 
house-spirit.  A  fat  black  pig  is  killed,  and  cut  into 
as  many  pieces  as  there  are  residents  in  the  place. 
"  Each  resident  receives  one  piece,  which  he  straight- 
way buries  under  the  door-step  at  the  entrance  to  his 
house.  In  some  parts,  it  is  said,  the  country  folk 
bury  a  few  eggs  beneath  the  threshold  of  the  dwelling 
to  propitiate  the  '  Domovoi.'  "2 

When  a  Magyar  maiden  would  win  the  love  of  a 
young  man,  or  would  bring  evil  on  him  because  of 
his  reluctance,  she  seeks  influence  over  him  by  means 
of  the  sacred  threshold.     "She  must  steal  something 

1   Ralston's  Songs  of  the  Russian  People,  p.  136  f. 
2  See  "  Death  Week  in  Russia,"  in  The  Spectator  (London),  for  June  18, 
1892. 


20  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

from  the  young  man,  and  take  it  to  a  witch,  who  adds 
to  it  three  beans,  three  bulbs  of  garlic,  a  few  pieces 
of  dry  coal,  and  a  dead  frog.  These  are  all  put  into 
an  earthenware  pot,  and  placed  under  the  thresh- 
old," with  a  prayer  for  the  object  of  her  desire.1 

A  superstition  is  prevalent  in  Roumania,  that  if  a 
bat,  together  with  a  gold  coin,  be  buried  under  the 
threshold,  there  is  "good  luck  "  to  the  house.2  Vari- 
ous superstitions,  in  connection  with  the  bat  are  found 
among  primitive  peoples.3 

In  Japan,  the  threshold  of  the  door  is  sprinkled 
with  salt,  after  a  funeral,  and  as  a  propitiatory  sacrifice 
in  time  of  danger.4     Salt  represents  blood. 

Among  the  Dyaks  of  Borneo,  a  pig's  blood  is 
sprinkled  at  the  doorway  to  atone  for  the  sin  of  un- 
chastity  by  a  daughter  of  the  family.  Again,  the 
blood  of  a  fowl  is  sprinkled  there  at  the  annual  festival 
of  seed-sowing,  with  prayers  for  fecundity  and  fertility.5 

"  On  New  Year's  morning,  along  the  coast  [in 
Aberdeenshire]  where  seaweed  is  gathered,  a  small 
quantity  is  laid  down  at  each  door  of  the  farm-stead- 
ing [the  buildings  of  the  homestead],  as  a  means  of 

1  Jones  and  Kropf's  Folk-Tales  of  Magyars,  p.  332. 
2  On  the  testimony  of  a  native  Roumanian. 

3  See,  for  example,  Turner's  Samoa,  pp.  21,  56  f.,  74  f.,  216,  241 ;  also 
Strack's  Der  Blutaberglaube  (4th  ed.),  p.  39. 

4  Griffis's  Mikado  s  Empire,  pp.  467,  470  ;  also,  Isabella  Bird's  Untrodden 
Tracks  in  Japan,  I.,  392. 

5  St.  John's  Life  in  the  Far  East,  I.,  64,  157  f. 


HO  USE  CORNERS  A  ND  D  O  OR-SILL.  2 1 

bringing  good  luck."  And  fire  and  salt  are  put  on 
the  threshold  of  the  byre-door  before  a  cow  leaves 
the  building  after  giving  birth  to  a  calf.1 

Of  portions  of  Ireland,  it  was  said,  early  in  this  cen- 
tury: "  On  the  i  ith  of  November,  every  family  of  a  vil- 
lage kills  an  animal  of  some  kind  or  other;  those  who 
are  rich  kill  a  cow  or  sheep,  others  a  goose  or  a  turkey; 
while  those  who  are  poor  .  .  .  kill  a  hen  or  a  cock,  and 
sprinkle  the  threshold  with  the  blood,  and  do  the 
same  in  the  four  corners  of  the  house;  ...  to  exclude 
every  kind  of  evil  spirit  from  the  dwelling."2 

Holes  bored  in  the  door-sill,  and  plugged  with 
pieces  of  paper  on  which  are  written  incantations,  a 
broom  laid  across  the  door-sill,  or  "three  horseshoes 
nailed  on  the  door-step  with  toes  up,"  are  supposed  to 
be  a  guard  against  witches  or  evil  spirits  in  portions 
of  Pennsylvania  to-day.3  Many  a  Pennsylvanian  is 
unwilling  to  cross,  for  the  first  time,  the  threshold  of 
a  new  home,  without  carrying  salt  and  a  Bible. 

Among  the  Indians  in  ancient  Mexico  there  was 
an  altar  near  the  door  of  every  house,  with  instru- 
ments of  sacrifice,  and  accompanying  idols.4 

"  Threshold  "  and  "  foundation  "  are  terms  that  are 

1  See  London  Folk- Lore  Journal,  II.,  330  f. 

2  Dr.  Strean  in  Mason's   Statistical  Account,  or  Parochial  Survey  of 
Ireland,  II.,  75. 

3  See  J.  G.  Owens  on  "Folk-Lore  from  Buffalo  Valley,  Central  Penn- 
sylvania," in  Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  IV.,  126. 

4  B.  Biaz's  "  Memoirs:  "  cited  in  Spencer's  Descriptive  Sociology,  II.,  23. 


22  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

used  interchangeably  in  primitive  life.  The  sacred- 
ness  of  the  threshold-stone  of  a  building  pivots  on 
its  position  as  a  foundation  stone,  a  beginning  stone, 
a  boundary  stone.  Hence  the  foundation  stone  of  any 
house,  or  other  structure  was  sacred  as  the  threshold 
of  that  building.  According  to  Dr.  H.  V.  Hilprecht, 
in  the  earlier  buildings  of  Babylonia  the  inscriptions 
and  invocations  and  deposits  were  at  the  threshold, 
and  later  under  the  four  corners  of  the  building;  but 
when  they  were  at  the  threshold  they  were  not  under 
the  corners,  and  vice  versa.  It  would  seem  from 
this  that  the  corner-stone  was  recognized  as  the  be- 
ginning, or  the  limit,  or  the  threshold,  of  the  building. 
It  may  be,  therefore,  that  the  modern  ceremonies  at 
the  laying  of  a  "corner-stone"  are  a  survival  of  the 
primitive  sacredness  of  a  threshold-laying.1 

It  would  seem,  moreover,  as  if  the  sanctity  of  the 
threshold  as  the  primitive  altar  were,  in  many  places, 
in  the  course  of  time  transferred  to  the  family  hearth. 
In  the  primitive  tent  the  household  fire  was  at  the 
entrance  way,  as  it  is  in  the  tents  of  the  East  to-day. 
Where  Arabs  have  camped  on  an  Eastern  desert,  the 
place  of  the  shaykh's  tent  can  always  be  known  by 
the  blackened  heathstones  at  its  entrance,  or  thresh- 
old, where  he  welcomed  guests  to  the  hospitality  of 
his  tribe  and  family  by  the  sharing  of  bread  and  salt, 

1  See  pp.  51,  55,  infra. 


FROM  DOOR-SILL   TO  HEARTH.  23 

or  by  the  outpouring  of  the  blood  of  a  slaughtered 
lamb  or  kid. 

If,  indeed,  the  earliest  dwelling  of  man  was  a  cave, 
rather  than  a  tent,  the  household  fire  was  still  at  its 
entrance ;  and  the  threshold  was  the  hearthstone. 
When,  in  the  progress  of  building-changes,  the  hearth- 
stone was  removed  to  the  center  of  the  building,  or 
of  the  inner  court,  its  sanctity  went  with  it,  as  the 
place  of  the  family  fire.  Thus,  for  example,  in  Russia, 
the  Domovoi,  or  household  deity,  who  is  honored  and 
invoked  at  the  threshold,  "  is  supposed  to  live  behind 
the  stove  now,  but  in  early  times  he,  or  the  spirits  of 
the  dead  ancestors,  of  whom  he  is  now  the  chief  repre- 
sentative, were  held  to  be  in  even  more  direct  rela- 
tions with  the  fire  on  the  hearth ;  as  were  the  Penates 
of  the  Romans,  who  were  sometimes  spoken  of  as  at 
the  threshold,  and  again  as  at  the  hearth."  1 

A  recognition  of  the  peculiar  sacredness  of  the 
threshold  is  shown,  in  different  lands,  by  the  popular 
unwillingness  to  have  the  dead  carried  over  it  on  the 
way  to  burial.  In  India,  the  body  of  one  dying  in 
certain  phases  of  the  moon  can  in  no  wise  be  carried 
over  the  threshold.  The  house  wall  must  be  broken 
for  its  removal.2     When  Chinese  students  are  attend- 

1  See  Ralston's  Sengs  of  the  Russian  People,  p.  120. 
2  See  Du  Bois's  Description  of  the  Character,  Manners,  and  Customs  of 
the  Peoples  of  India,  II.,  27.     Compare  pp.  5-7,  supra. 


24  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

ing  the  competitive  examinations  for  promotion,  they 
are  shut  up  in  rooms  until  their  work  is  completed.  If 
one  of  them  dies  at  such  a  time,  "the  body  is  removed 
over  the  back  wall,  as  the  taking  out  openly  through 
the  front  door  would  be  regarded  as  an  evil  omen."  x 

In  the  capital  of  Korea  there  is  a  small  gate  in  the 
city  wall  known  as  the  "  Gate  of  the  Dead,"  through 
which  alone  a  dead  body  can  be  carried  out.  But  no 
one  can  ever  enter  through  that  passage-way.2 

There  is  a  recognition,  in  Russian  folk-tales,  of  safety 
to  the  spirit  of  one  who  dies  in  a  house,  if  his  body  be 
passed  out  under  the  threshold  of  the  outer  door.3 

It  is  not  allowable  to  carry  out  a  corpse  through 
the  main  door  of  a  house  in  Italy.  There  is  a  smaller 
door,  in  the  side  wall,  known  as  the  porta  di  morti, 
which  is  kept  closed  except  as  it  is  opened  for  the 
removal  of  a  body  at  the  time  of  a  funeral.4 

In  Alaska,  it  is  deemed  an  evil  omen  for  the  dead  to 
be  carried  over  the  threshold.  "Therefore  the  dying 
one,  instead  of  being  allowed  to  rest  in  peace  in  his 
last  hours,  is  hastily  lifted  from  his  couch  and  put  out 
of  doors  [or  out  of  the  house]  by  a  hole  in  the  rear 
wall"  so  as  not  to  have  a  corpse  pass  the  threshold.5 

1  Nevius's  China  and  the  Chinese,  p.  60. 

2  Landor's  Corea  or  Chosen,  p.  118. 

3  See  Ralston's  Russian  Folk-Tales,  p.  28  f. 

4  On  the  testimony  of  Professor  Dr.  A.  L.  Frothingham,  Jr. 

5  Julia  McNair  Weight's  Among-  the  Alaskans,  p.  313. 


IN  THE  MARRIAGE  CEREMONY.  25 

In  some  communities,  in  both  Europe  and  America, 
the  coffin  is  passed  out  of  the  house  through  the 
window,  instead  of  through  the  door,  at  a  funeral. 
And  again,  the  front  door  is  closed  and  a  window  is 
opened  at  the  time  of  a  death,  in  order  that  the  spirit 
may  pass  out  of  the  house  in  some  other  way  than 
over  the  threshold.1 

Even  though  the  dead  may  not  be  lifted  over  the 
threshold  altar,  the  dead  may  be  buried  underneath  it. 
In  both  the  far  East  and  the  far  West,  burials  under 
the  threshold  are  known.  And  in  Christian  churches 
of  Europe,  a  grave  underneath  the  altar  is  an  honored 
grave  for  saint  or  ecclesiastic. 

In  the  Apocalypse  the  seer  beheld  "  underneath  the 
altar  the  souls  of  them  that  had  been  slain  for  the 
word  of  God,  and  for  the  testimony  which  they  held : 
and  they  cried  with  a  great  voice,  saying,  How  long, 
O  Master,  the  holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not  judge  and 
avenge  our  blood  on  them  that  dwell  on  the  earth  ?  " 2 


3.    THRESHOLD    COVENANTING    IN    THE    MARRIAGE 
CEREMONY. 

Marriage  customs  in  various  parts  of  the  world,  in 
ancient  and  modern  times,  illustrate  this  idea  of  the 
sacredness  of  the  threshold  as  the  family  altar. 

1  Comp.  Plutarch's  Roman  Questions,  Q.  5.  2  Rev.  6  :  9-10. 


26  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

In  portions  of  Syria,  when  a  bride  is  brought  to  her 
husband's  home,  a  lamb  or  a  kid  is  sacrificed  on  the 
threshold,  and  she  must  step  across  the  outpoured 
blood.1     This  marks  her  adoption  into  that  family. 

Amonsf  the  wide-soreadincr  'Anazeh  Bed'ween,  the 
most  prominent  and  extensive  tribe  of  desert  Arabs, 
whose  range  is  from  the  Sinaitic  Peninsula  to  the 
upper  Desert  of  Syria,  "  when  the  marriage  day  is 
fixed,  the  bridegroom  comes  with  a  lamb  in  his  arms 
to  the  tent  of  the  father  of  his  bride,  and  then,  before 
witnesses,  he  cuts  its  throat.  As  soon  as  the  blood 
falls  upon  the  earth  [and  the  earth  is  the  only  thresh- 
old of  a  tent],  the  marriage  ceremony  is  regarded  as 
complete." 2  "  In  Egypt,  the  Copts  sacrifice  a  sheep  as 
the  bride  steps  into  the  bridegroom's  house,  and  she 
is  compelled  to  step  over  the  blood  which  flows  upon 
the  threshold  in  the  doorway." 3  It  is  evident,  more- 
over, that  this  custom  is  not  confined  to  the  Copts.4 

Blood  on  the  threshold,  as  an  accompaniment  of  a 
marriage,  is  still  counted  important  among  Armenian 
Christians  in  Turkey.  After  the  formal  marriage  cere- 
mony at  the  church,  the  wedded  pair,  with  their  friends, 
proceed  to  the  bridegroom's  home.     'At  the  moment 

1  On  the  testimony  of  an  eye-witness. 

2  Palmer's  Desert  of  the  Exodus,  I.,  90. 

3  Burckhardt's  Bed.  u.  Wahaby,  p.  214,  note. 

*  Lane's  Modern  Egyptians,  II.,  293. 


OFFERINGS  AT  THE  DOOR.  2J 

of  their  arrival  a  sheep  is  sacrificed  on  the  threshold, 
over  the  blood  of  which  the  wedding  party  steps  to 
enter  the  house." x 

In  the  island  of  Cyprus,  a  bridegroom  is  borne  to 
the  house  of  his  bride  on  the  wedding  morning,  in  a 
living  chair  formed  by  the  crossed  hands  of  his  neigh- 
bor friends.  Dismounting  at  her  door,  "  as  he  is  about 
to  pass  in,  a  fowl  is  brought  and  held  down  by  head 
and  feet  upon  the  threshold  of  the  door ;  the  bride- 
groom takes  an  axe,  cuts  off  the  head,  and  only  then 
may  he  enter."  2 

Like  customs  are  found  among  yet  more  primi- 
tive peoples.  Thus,  for  instance,  with  the  western 
Somali  tribes,  in  east"  Central  Africa  :  "  On  reaching 
the  bridegroom's  house  a  low-caste  man  sacrifices  a 
goat  or  sheep  on  the  threshold ;  and  the  bride  steps 
over  it ;  "  and  again  when  the  bridegroom  returns  from 
his  devotions  at  a  neighboring  masjid  (a  place  of 
public  prayer)  to  claim  his  bride,  as  he  reaches  his 
threshold,  "  another  goat  is  sacrificed,  and  he  steps 
over  it  in  the  same  way  as  his  bride."  3  Again  the 
bridegroom  himself  brings  the  bride  from  her  father's 
hut  to  his  own,  accompanied  by  young  men  and 
maidens  dancing  and  singing.    "  On  reaching  the  new 

1  Garnett's  Women  of  Turkey  and  their  Folk-Lo7-e  ("  Christian 
Women"),  p.  239. 

2  Rodd's  Customs  and  Lore  of  Modern  Greece,  p.  101. 
3  Capt.  King's  "  Notes"  in  London  Folk-Lore  Journal,  VI.,  121,  123. 


2b  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

hut,  the  bride  holds  a  goat  or  sheep  in  the  doorway, 
while  the  bridegroom  cuts  its  throat  in  the  orthodox 
manner  with  his  jambia  (long  knife).  The  bride  dips 
her  finger  in  the  blood,  smears  it  on  her  forehead, 
.  .  .  and  then  enters  the  girri,  stepping  over  the  blood. 
The  bridegroom  follows  her,  also  stepping  over  the 
blood,  and  is  accompanied  by  some  of  his  nearest 
male  relatives."  1 

There  are  traces  of  such  customs,  also,  among  the 
natives  of  South  Africa,2  and  elsewhere. 

Besides  the  bloody  sacrifices  at  the  threshold,  in 
the  marriage  ceremony,  there  are,  in  different  coun- 
tries, various  forms  of  making  offerings  at  the  thresh- 
old, and  of  surmounting  obstacles  at  that  point,  as  an 
accompaniment  of  the  wedding  covenant.  All  these 
point  to  the  importance  and  sanctity  of  the  threshold 
and  doorway  in  the  primitive  mind. 

A  bride,  in  portions  of  Upper  Syria,  on  reaching  her 
husband's  house,  is  lifted  up  so  that  she  can  press 
against  the  door-lintel  a  piece  of  dough,  prepared  for 
the  purpose,  and  handed  to  her  at  the  time.  This 
soft  dough,  thus  pressed  against  the  plastered  or  clay 
wall,  adheres  firmly,  and  is  left  there  as  long  as  it 
will  remain.     The  open  hand  of  the  bride  stamps  the 

1  Capt.  King's  "  Notes  "  in  London  Folk- Lore  Journal,  VI.,  121,  123. 

2  Shooter's  Kafirs  of  Natal,  pp.  71-78;  and  Andersson's  Lake  Ngami, 
p.  220  f. 


ANOINTING   THE  DOOR-POSTS.  29 

dough  as  it  is  fixed  in  place,  and  in  some  cases  the 
finger  points  are  pricked  before  the  stamping,  so  that 
the  blood  will  appear  as  a  sign  manual  on  the  cake 
of  dough.1 

When  a  bride  reaches  the  door  of  her  husband's 
house,  among  the  fellaheen  of  Palestine,  a  jar  of  water 
is  placed  on  her  head.  She  must  call  on  the  name  of 
God  as  she  crosses  the  threshold ;  and,  at  the  same 
moment,  her  husband  strikes  the  jar  from  her  head, 
and  causes  the  water  to  flow  as  a  libation.2 

Among  the  Wallachians  there  is  a  marriage  rite, 
said  to  be  of  Latin  origin,  because  there  was  a  similar 
rite  among  the  old  Latins.  The  Wallachian  bride  is 
borne  on  horseback,  with  an  accompanying  procession, 
to  the  house  of  the  bridegroom.  "  At  the  moment 
when  the  betrothed  maiden  dismounts  from  her  steed, 
and  is  about  to  cross  the  threshold,  they  present  to 
her  butter,  or  sometimes  honey,  and  with  this  she 
smears  the  door-posts."3 

An  observer  says  of  this  rite  :  "  For  the  same  reason 
among  the  Latins,  the  word  for  wife,  uxor,  originally 
unxor,  was  derived  from  the  verb  ungere,  '  to  anoint,' 
because  the  maidens  when  they  reached  the  threshold 

1  On  the  testimony  of  a  native  eye-witness.  See,  also,  Conder's  Heth 
and  Moab,  p.  285. 

2  See  article  by  P.  J.  Baldensperger,  in  Quarterly  Statement  of  Palestine 
Exploration  Fund  for  April,  1894,  p.  136. 

3  Heuzey's  Le  Monte  Olympe  et  L'Acarnanie,  p.  278. 


30  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

of  their  future  husbands,  were  similarly  accustomed 
to  anoint  the  door-posts."  In  support  of  this  fanciful 
etymology,  old-time  commentators  on  Terence  and 
Virgil  are  cited;1  which  shows, at  least,  that  this  cere- 
mony at  the  threshold  of  the  husband's  home  has 
long  been  recognized  as  of  vital  importance  in  the 
marriage  contract  and  relation. 

It  is  customary,  among  the  Greeks  in  Turkey,  for 
the  mother  of  the  bridegroom,  as  he  leaves  his  home 
to  go  for  his  bride  on  the  morning  of  his  wedding,  to 
lay  across  his  pathway  a  girdle,  over  which  he  steps, 
and  to  pour  a  libation  of  water  before  him.2 

In  the  Morea,  in  the  vicinity  of  Sparta,  it  is  said 
that,  when  the  bride  is  brought  to  her  new  home, 
the  mother  of  the  bridegroom  "  stands  waiting  at  the 
door,  holding  a  glass  of  honey  and  water  in  her  hand. 
From  this  glass  the  bride  must  drink  ;  .  .  .  while  the 
lintel  of  the  door  is  smeared  with  the  remainder ;  .  .  . 
in  the  meantime  one  of  the  company  breaks  a  pome- 
granate on  the  threshold." 3  In  Rhodes,  when  the 
newly  married  couple  enter  the  doorway  of  their  new 
home,  the  husband  "  dips  his  finger  in  a  cup  of  honey, 
and  traces  a  cross  over  the  door.  ...  A  pomegranate 

1  See  citations  from  Donatus,  on  the  "  Hecyra"  of  Terence,  I.,  a,  6o,  and 
Servius  on  Virgil's  "  Aeneid,"  IV.,  459,  in  Heuzey's  Le  Monte  Olympe  et 
Acarnanie,  p.  278  ;  also,  Marquardt's  Privatleben  der  Romer,  p.  53. 
2  Garnett's  Women  of  Turkey  ("  Christian  Women  "),  p.  82. 
3  Rodd's  Customs  and  Lore  of  Modern  Greece,  p.  95  f. 


OBSTACLES  AND  OFFERINGS.  3 1 

is  placed  on  the  threshold,  which  the  young  husband 
crushes  with  his  foot  as  he  enters,  followed  by  his 
wife,  over  whom  the  wedding  guests  throw  corn  and 
cotton  seeds  and  orange  flower  water."  l 

On  Skarpanto  (Carpathos),  an  island  lying  between 
Rhodes  and  Crete,  when  the  bridegroom  reaches  the 
door  of  the  bride's  house  "he  is  greeted  by  the 
mother  of  the  bride,  who  touches  the  nape  of  his 
neck  with  a  censer  containing  incense.  .  .  .  She  further 
gives  him  a  present  called  cmbatikon, — that  is  to  say, 
'  the  gift  of  in-going,' — and  then  places  on  the  thresh- 
old a  rug  or  blanket  folded,  with  a  stick  resting  on 
one  of  the  corners.  The  bridegroom  advances  his 
right  foot,  breaks  the  stick  and  passes  in."  2 

Among  the  Morlacchi,  in  Dalmatia,  it  is,  or  was,  a 
custom  for  a  bride  to  kneel  and  kiss  the  threshold  of 
her  husband's  home,  before  crossing  it  for  the  first 
time.  Her  mother-in-law,  or  some  other  near  relative 
of  her  husband,  at  the  same  time  presented  her  with  a 
sieve  full  of  different  kinds  of  grain,  nuts,  and  small 
fruits,  which  the  bride  scattered  behind  her  back  as 
she  passed  in.3 

It  is  a  custom  in  portions  of  Russia,  when  the  bride 
is  about  to  leave  her  father's  home  to  meet  the  bride- 

1  Rodd's  Customs  and  Love  of  Modern  Greece,  p.  99  f. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  102. 

3  Wood's  Wedding  Day  in  all  Ages  and  Countries,  II.,  46. 


32  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

groom,  for  the  friends  of  the  bridegroom  to  appear  at 
the  door,  and  request  that  the  bride  be  brought  to 
them.  "  After  their  request  has  been  many  times 
repeated,  the  'princess  '  [as  the  bride  is  called]  ap- 
pears, attended  by  her  relatives  and  attendants,  but 
stops  short  at  the  door.  Again  the  bridegroom's 
friends  demand  the  bride,  but  are  told  first  to  'cleanse 
the  threshold;  then  will  the  young  princess  cross 
the  threshold.'  "  Thereupon  gifts  are  made  by  the 
bridegroom's  friend,  and  the  bride  crosses  the  thresh- 
old to  go  to  the  bridegroom.1 

Among  the  Mordvins  (or,  Mordevins),  a  Finnish 
people  on  the  Volga,  there  are  various  customs  in 
connection  with  marriage,  tending  to  confirm  the  idea 
that  the  threshold  is  the  household  altar.  In  a  cere- 
mony of  betrothal,  with  a  conference  over  the  terms 
of  dowry,  a  prayer  is  offered  to  the  "  goddess  of  the 
homestead,"  and  the  "goddess  of  the  dwelling-house;" 
"  the  girl's  father  then  cuts  off  the  corner  of  a  loaf  of 
bread  with  three  slashes  of  a  knife,  salts  it,  and  places 
it  under  the  threshold,  where  the  Penates  are  believed 
to  frequent.  This  is  called  the  '  gods'  portion.' "  Bread 
and  salt  are  factors  in  a  sacred  covenant,  and  their 
proffer  to  the  household  gods,  at  the  threshold  altar, 
would  seem  to  be  an  invitation  to  those  gods  to  be  a 
party  to  the  new  marriage  covenant.     Again,  after  the 

1  See  Ralston's  Songs  of  the  Russian  People,  p.  277  f. 


GIFTS  AND  BARRIERS.  33 

terms  of  betrothal  are  agreed  on,  there  is  the  feast  of 
"  hand-striking,"  or  ratification  of  the  betrothal.  On 
that  occasion  also  the  "gods'  portion  "  is  offered  ;  and 
"  a  little  brandy  is  spilt  under  the  threshold.  Bread 
and  salt  are  once  more  placed  under  the  threshold  by 
the  bride's  father,  who  carries  it  from  the  table  to  the 
household  altar  "  on  the  point  of  the  knife — under  no 
circumstances  in  his  hands." l 

A  custom  of  strewing  the  threshold  of  the  home 
of  a  new-married  couple  prevailed  in  Holland  until 
recent  times.2  This  was  obviously  a  form  of  offering 
at  the  household  altar. 

On  the  evening  before  the  marriage  ceremony,  in 
the  rural  districts  and  smaller  towns  of  Northern 
Germany,  the  boys  and  girls,  and  others  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, are  accustomed  to  appear  at  the  door  of  the 
bride's  house,  and  smash  on  the  threshold  earthen  pots 
and  jars,  with  loud  cries  of  joy.  "  Sometimes,  whole 
car-loads  of  broken  pottery  have  to  be  removed  from 
the  door  the  next  morning."  And  when  the  young 
couple  return  to  their  home,  after  the  ceremony  at 
the  church,  poor  boys  and  girls  are  accustomed  to 
stretch  a  colored  cord  across  the  door  of  the  house,  to 
prevent  a  passage  over  the  threshold,  unless  the  bride  - 

1  See  "  Marriage  Customs  of  the   Mordvins,"    in  London  Folk- Lore, 
I.,  422-427;  also  P.  von  Stenin,  in  Globus,  LXV.,  181-183. 

2  Wood's  Wedding  Day  in  all  Ages  and  Countries,  II.,  13. 
3 


34  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

o-room  throws  a  handful  of  small  coins  among  those 
who  bar  the  way.1 

Traces  of  the  sacredness  of  the  threshold  altar  seem 
to  exist  in  the  wedding  ceremonies  in  villages  on  the 
coast  of  Aberdeenshire,  Scotland.  "  After  the  mar- 
riage is  solemnized,  ...  the  bride's  guests  are  enter- 
tained at  her  home,  and  the  bridegroom's  at  his.  .  .  . 
When  the  bride  returns  to  her  father's  house,  after  the 
marriage,  broken  bread  of  various  sorts  is  thrown 
over  her  before  she  enters.  The  same  ceremony  is 
o-one  through  with  the  bridegroom  at  his  father's 
door."2 

When  a  girl  among  the  Sea  Dyaks  of  Borneo  is 
married,  the  wedding  takes  place  at  her  house.  The 
marriage  rite  includes  the  erecting  an  altar  before  the 
door  of  the  house,  and  placing  on  it  an  offering  of  pre- 
pared areca-nut,  covered  with  a  red  cloth,  the  color 
of  blood.  The  families  of  the  bride  and  the  groom 
then  partake  of  that  offering  in  covenant  conclave.3 

A  lover,  among  the  Woolwas,  in  Central  America, 
when  wooing  a  bride,  would  bring  a  deer's  carcass, 
and  a  bundle  of  firewood,  and  deposit  it  outside  of  her 
house  door.  If  she  accepted  these,  and  took  them 
over  the  threshold,  it  was  a  betrothal.4       The  cove- 

i  On  the  testimony  of  Dr.  H.  V.  Hilprecht. 

a  Walter  Gregor  in  London  Folk- Lore  Journal,  I.,  119  f. 

3  St.  John's  Life  in  the  Forests  of  the  Far  East,  I.,  62. 

*See  Bancroft's  Native  Races,  I.,  663. 


WINNING  A  BRIDE.  35 

nant  seemed  to  consist  in  the  reaching  across  the 
threshold  and  accepting  a  proffered  offering  in  a  spirit 
of  loving  agreement. 

Among  the  Towkas,  in  the  same  part  of  the  world, 
a  bridegroom  would  go  with  his  friends  to  the  home 
of  his  bride,  carrying  a  bundle  of  gifts  for  her.  Sit- 
ting down  outside  of  the  door,  he  would  call  on  her 
family  to  open  to  him.  There  being  no  response, 
music  would  then  be  tried  by  his  friends.  At  this  the 
door  would  be  opened  just  far  enough  for  him  to  put 
a  gift  inside  over  the  threshold.  One  by  one  his  gifts 
would  be  passed  in,  in  this  way,  while  the  door  opened 
wider  and  wider.  When  the  last  gift  was  over  the 
threshold,  the  lover  would  spring  within,  and,  seizing 
the  bride,  would  carry  her  across  the  threshold,  and 
take  her  to  a  temporary  hut  erected  within  a  charmed 
circle  near  by,  while  his  friends  guarded  him  from 
intrusion.1 

And  thus,  in  various  ways,  among  widely  different 
primitive  peoples,  the  marriage  customs  go  to  show 
that  the  home  threshold  cannot  be  passed  except  by 
overcoming  a  barrier  of  some  kind,  and  making  an 
offering,  bloody  or  bloodless,  at  this  primal  family 
altar.  An  essential  part  of  the  covenant  of  union  is  a 
halting  at,  and  then  passing  over,  the  threshold  of  the 
new  home,  with  an  accompanying  sacrifice. 

1  See  Bancroft's  Native  Races,  I.,  732-734. 


36  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

4.    STEPPING    OR    BEING    LIFTED    ACROSS    THE 
THRESHOLD. 

Even  more  widespread  and  prominent  than  the 
custom  of  offering  blood,  or  of  making  a  libation,  or 
of  overcoming  a  special  barrier,  at  the  threshold,  or 
of  anointing  or  stamping  the  posts  or  lintel  of  the 
doorway  as  a  sign  of  the  covenant,  at  the  time  of  a 
marriage,  and  as  a  part  of  the  ceremony,  is  the  habit 
of  causing  the  bride  to  cross  the  threshold  with  care, 
without  stepping  upon  it.  This  custom  is  of  well- 
nisrh  world-wide  observance,  and  it  has  attracted  the 
attention  of  anthropologists  and  students  of  primitive 
customs.  A  favorite  method  of  explaining  it  has 
been  by  calling  it  a  survival  of  the  practice  of  "  mar- 
riage by  capture ;  "  but  this  is  nothing  more  than  an 
unscientific  guess,  in  defiance  of  the  truth  that  per- 
sistent popular  customs  have  their  origin  in  a  sen- 
timent, and  not  in  a  passing  historic  practice.  The 
earliest  mentions  of  this  custom,  of  the  bride's  cross- 
ing the  threshold  without  stepping  on  it,  show  it  as  a 
voluntary  religious  rite ;  and  there  are  traces  of  its 
recognition  in  this  light  from  the  earliest  times  until 
now. 

In  the  Vedic  Sutras,  or  the  sacrificial  rules  of  the 
ancient  Hindoo  literature,  it  is  specifically  declared 
that  a  bride,  on  entering  her  husband's  home,  shall 


PUTTING  FORWARD  THE  RIGHT  FOOT.       37 

step  across  the  threshold,  and  not  upon  it.  She  is 
not  lifted  over  the  door-sill,  but  she  voluntarily  crosses 
it.  Thus  it  is  said :  "  When  (the  bridegroom  with  his 
bride)  has  come  to  his  house,  he  says  to  her,  '  Cross 
(the  threshold)  with  thy  right  foot  first ;  do  not  stand 
on  the  threshold.'"1  In  this  ancient  ceremony,  grains 
of  rice  are  poured  on  the  heads  of  the  bridegroom 
and  his  bride.2  This  modern  custom  has,  therefore,  a 
very  early  origin.  And  again :  "  He  makes  her  enter 
the  house  (which  she  does)  with  her  right  foot.  And 
she  does  not  stand  on  the  threshold." 3 

Putting  the  right  foot  forward  seems  to  be  a  matter 
of  importance  in  various  primitive  religions.  "  Put 
your  right  foot  first"  is  a  maxim  ascribed  to  Pythago- 
ras.4 In  his  description  of  the  proportions  of  a  tem- 
ple, the  Roman  architect  Vitruvius  said:  "The  number 
of  steps  in  front  should  always  be  odd,  since,  in  that 
case,  the  right  foot,  which  begins  the  ascent,  will  be 
that  which  first  alights  on  the  landing  of  the  temple."5 
A  Muhammadan  is  always  careful  to  put  his  right 
foot  first  in  crossing  over  the  threshold  of  a  mosk.6 

Among  the  Albanians,  when  the  bride  is  taken  to 

1  "  Grihya-Sutras,''  or  Rules  of  Vedic   Domestic  Ceremonies,  in  Sacred 
Books  of  the  East,  XXX.,  193. 

2  Ibid.  *  Ibid.,  p  263. 

4 Fragmenta  Philosophorum  Grcecorum  (ed.  Mullach),  I.,  510. 
5  Gwilt's  Architecture  0/  Marcus  Vitruvius  Pollio,  p.  8q. 
6  See  Hughes's  Dictionary  of  Islam,  art.  "  Masjid  ;  "  also  Lane's  Modern 
Egyptians,  I.,  105  ;  and  Conder's  Heth  and  Moab,  p.  293  f. 


38  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

the  home  of  the  bridegroom,  accompanied  by  the 
vlamy  or  "the  friend  of  the  bridegroom,"  it  is  said  that 
"  particular  care  is  taken  that  the  threshold  should  be 
crossed  with  the  right  foot  foremost."  l  Here,  as  in 
India,  the  crossing  of  the  threshold  is  a  voluntary  act. 
The  bride  is  not  lifted  over,  but  crosses  of  her  own 
accord.     If  she  be  veiled,  the  lifting  is  a  necessity. 

In  Madagascar,  "  on  entering  a  house,  especially  a 
royal  house,  it  is  improper  to  use  the  left  foot  on  first 
stepping  into  it.  One  must  '  put  one's  best  (or  right) 
foot  foremost.' " 2 

The  bride,  in  Upper  Syria,  is  sometimes  carried 
across  the  threshold  of  the  bridegroom's  house  by 
friends  of  the  bridegroom.3     She,  of  course,  is  veiled. 

When  the  bride  reaches  the  outer  gate  of  her  hus- 
band's residence,  in  Egypt,  the  bridegroom  meets  her, 
enveloped  as  she  is  in  her  cashmere  shawl,  clasps  her 
in  his  arms,  and  carries  her  across  the  threshold,  and 
up  to  the  doorway  of  the  female  apartments.4 

In  portions  of  Abyssinia,  the  bridegroom  carries  his 
bride  from  her  home  to  his,  bearing  her  across  the 
threshold  as  he  enters  his  house.5 

1  Rodd's  Customs  and  Lore  of  Modern  Greece,  p.  104. 
2  Sibree,  on  "  Malagasy  Folk-Lore  and  Popular  Superstition  "  in  London 
Folk- Lore  Record,  II.,  p.  37. 

3  As  told  me  by  a  native  eye-witness. 
4  Burckhardt's  Arabic  Proverbs,  p.  137  f. 
5  Bruce's  "  Travels,"  VII.,  67  (ed.  1804)  ;  cited  in  McLennan' s. Studies 
in  Ancient  History,  p   188. 


FIRE  A  T  THE  THRESHOLD.  39 

So,  also,  it  is  among  the  more  primitive  tribes  in 
West  Africa.  The  bride  is  carried  over  the  threshold 
in  a  rude  chair,  or  on  the  shoulders  of  her  friends, 
into  her  new  home.1 

There  are  traces  of  a  similar  custom  in  the  mar- 
riage ceremonies  of  ancient  Assyria.2 

Again,  it  is  said  to  be  found  among  the  Khonds  of 
Orissa,3  the  Tatars,4  and  the  Eskimos.5 

In  ancient  Greece G  and  in  ancient  Rome 7  the  lifting- 
of  the  bride  over  the  threshold  of  her  new  home  was 
an  important  part  of  the  marriage  ceremony.  Classic 
writers  had  their  explanations  of  this  custom,  as  cer- 
tain modern  anthropologists  have  theirs,  but  the  origin 
of  the  ceremony  was  earlier  than  they  imagined. 

In  unchanging  China  the  use  of  fire  on  the  threshold 
altar,  in  connection  with  the  marriage  ceremony,  is 
continued  to  the  present  day.  The  bride  is  borne  in 
a  sedan-chair  to  the  house   of  the  bridegroom,  ac- 

1  On  the  testimony  of  a  colored  clergyman  from  Liberia. 
2  See  Maspero's  Life  in  Ancient  Egypt  and  Assyria,  p.  232. 
3  Campbell's  "  Personal  Narrative;"  cited  in  McLennan's  Studies  in 
Ancient  History,  p.  14. 

i  Pinkerton's  "  Collection,"  VI.,  183  ;  cited  in  Ibid.,  p.  177. 
5  Hayes's  ''Open  Polar   Sea,''  p.  432 ;  cited  in    Lubbock's    Origin  of 
Civilization  (Am.  ed.),  p.  78. 

6  Rous's  ArchcBologia  Attica,  Lib.  IV.,  cap.  7. 
7  See  "  Roman  Questions,"  Q.  29,  in  Goodwin's  Plutarch's  Morals,  II., 
220  f. ;  also  Godwyn's  Rom.  Hist.  Anthol.,  Lib.  II.,  $  2  ;  citation  of  authori- 
ties in  Becker's  Gallus,  p.  161,  and  in  Marquardt's  Privatleben  der  R'omer, 
I.,  53  f- 


40  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

companied  by  a  procession  of  friends  and  musicians. 
"On  arriving  at  the  portal  of  the  house,  the  bride- 
groom taps  the  door  of  the  sedan-chair  with  his 
fan,  and  in  response,  the  instructress  of  matrimony, 
who  prompts  every  act  of  the  bride,  opens  the  door 
and  hands  out  the  still  enshrouded  young  lady,  who 
is  carried  bodily  over  a  pan  of  lighted  charcoal,  or  a 
red-hot  coulter  laid  on  the  threshold,  while  at  the 
same  moment  a  servant  offers  for  her  acceptance  some 
rice  and  preserved  prunes."  l 

Again,  it  is  burning  straw  that  is  thrown  upon  the 
door-sill,  and  is  half  extinguished  before  the  Chinese 
bride  is  led  to  step  across  it.  The  instructress  says  at 
this  point : 

"  Now,  fair  young  bride,  the  smoke  bestride  ; 
This  year  have  joy,  next  year  a  boy."  2 

Fire,  like  blood,  stands  for  life  in  the  primitive 
mind;  and  fire,  like  blood,  has  its  place  on  the  altar. 
Indeed,  as  the  first  threshold  altar  was  the  hearth- 
stone, it  was  the  place  of  the  household  fire.  The 
sacredness  of  the  domestic  fire  is  recognized  in 
all  the  Hindoo  religious  literature ;  and  a  Hindoo 
couple,  on  beginning  their  married  life,  must  have  a 

1  Douglas's  Society  in  China,  p.  201  See,  also,  Williams's  Middle 
Kingdom,  I.,  790  ;  Gray's  China,  I.,  205  ;  and  "  Marriage  Ceremonies  of 
the  Manchus,"  in  London  Folk-Lore,  I.,  487. 

2  Adele  M.  Fielde's  Corner  0/  Cathay,  p.  39. 


HYMEN'S  TORCH.  4 1 

care  to  enter  a  new  home  bringing  their  sacred  altar 
fire  with  them.1  In  ancient  Greece,  the  mother  of 
the  bride  accompanied  her  daughter  to  the  threshold 
of  her  new  home,  bearing  a  flaming  torch  "  kindled 
at  the  parental  hearth,  according  to  custom  imme- 
morial."2 A  torch  was  similarly  borne  in  the  Roman 
marriage  ceremonies.3  This  custom  is  referred  to  in 
the  term  "  hymen's  torch,"  or  the  "  nuptial  torch." 
"  In  Cicero's  time,  they  did  not  distinguish  the  hearth- 
fire  from  the  Penates,  nor  the  Penates  from  the  Lares."4 
The  bride,  in  India,  in  China,  in  Greece,  and  in  Rome, 
worshiped  at  the  altar-fire  of  her  new  home. 

A  connecting  link  between  the  altar  fire  and  the  nup- 
tial torch  is  found  in  a  marriage  custom  of  the  Erza, 
of  the  Mordvins,  in  Russia.  On  the  eve  of  the  wed- 
ding day  the  bridegroom's  family  make  ready  for  the 
bride.  "  A  thick  candle,  and  several  thinner  ones, 
have  .  .  .  been  made  ready  for  the  occasion.  The 
bridegroom's  father  lights  the  smaller  ones  before  the 
holy  pictures  [in  use  in  families  of  the  Greek  Church], 
but  sets  up  the  large  one   on   the  threshold.     It  is 

1  "  Grihya-Sutras,"  or  Rules  of  Vedic  Domestic  Ceremonies,  in  Sacred 
Books  of  the  East,  XXX.,  193,  201. 

2Guhl  and  Koner's  Life  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  p.  192. 

3  See  "  Roman  Questions,"  Q.  1,  2,  in  Goodwin's  Plutarch's  Morals,  I., 
204;  also  authorities  cited  in  Becker's  Gallus,  p.  162  f.,  and  Marquardt's 
Privatleben  der  R'omer,  I.,  53  f. 

4  See  Coulange's  Ancient  City,  pp.  29-41,  55-58,  with  citations. 


42  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

called  '  the  house   candle.'  "      The   father  then  prays 
for  the  new  couple.1 

A  survival  of  an  ancient  Slavic  custom,  of  covenant- 
ing together  by  crossing  together  an  altar  fire,  would 
also  seem  to  exist  in  Russia  in  the  practices  of  young 
people  at  the  "  Midsummer  Day  "  festival.  A  Rus- 
sian writer  says  of  these  festivals  :  "  More  than  once 
have  I  had  an  opportunity  of  being  present  at  these 
nightly  meetings,  held  at  the  end  of  June,  in  com- 
memoration of  a  heathen  divinity.  They  usually  take 
place  close  to  a  river  or  pond  ;  large  fires  are  lighted, 
and  over  them  young  couples,  bachelors  and  unmar- 
ried girls,  jump  barefoot."2 

There  is  a  custom  of  wooing  among  the  Moksha, 
of  the  Mordvins,  that  brings  the  threshold-altar  idea 
into  prominence.  The  parents  of  the  wooer  first  make 
gifts,  at  their  home,  to  the  household  goddesses. 
'  These  gifts  consist  of  dough  figures  of  domestic 
animals,  which  are  placed  under  the  threshold  of  the 
house  and  of  the  outside  gate,  while  prayer  is  made  to 
the  goddesses  and  to  deceased  ancestors.  The  father 
[of  the  bridegroom]  then  cuts  off  a  corner  of  a  loaf 
placed  on  the  table,  and  at  the  time  of  the  offering 

1  See  "Marriage  Customs  of  the  Mordvins,"  in  London  Folk-Lore, 
I.,  437.  See,  also,  the  reference  to  burning  incense  on  the  threshold  in 
Tuscany,  at  p.  17  f.,  supra. 

2  See  Kowalewsky's  "Marriage  among  the  Early  Slavs,"  in  London 
Folk-Lore,  I.,  467. 


HONEY  IN  THE  HONEYMOON.  43 

scoops  out  the  inside  and  fills  it  with  honey.  At  mid- 
night he  drives  in  profound  secrecy  to  the  house  of 
the  bride  elect,  places  the  honeyed  bread  on  the  gate- 
post [of  her  house],  strikes  the  window  with  his  whip, 
and  shouts:  '  Seta!  I,  Veshnak  Mazakoffy  make  a 
match  between  thy  daughter  and  my  son  Uru.  Take 
the  honeyed  bread  from  thy  gate-post,  and  pray.'"1 
The  images  of  domestic  animals  would  here  seem  to 
stand  for  the  slaughtered  animals  formerly  offered  at 
the  threshold  altar  ;  and  the  linking  of  the  altars  of 
the  two  homes  by  offerings  and  prayer  would  seem  to 
indicate  the  desire  for  a  sacred  covenant.  When  the 
bride  is  received  at  the  bridegroom's  house,  a  notch  is 
cut  "  with  an  ax  in  the  door-post  to  mark  the  arrival 
of  a  new  addition  to  the  family." 

Among  the  Erza,  of  the  same  province,  the  bride,  on 
the  day  of  "  the  girl's  feast,"  preceding  her  marriage, 
"  takes  mould  [earth]  from  under  the  threshold  [of 
her  parental  home]  with  her  finger-tips,  and  thrusts  it 
into  her  bosom,  as  she  goes  out  to  seek  a  farewell 
blessing  from  her  friends.  In  the  bridegroom's  home, 
meanwhile,  a  lighted  candle  is  placed  on  the  threshold 
of  the  door;  and,  in  some  regions,  when  he  and  his 
friends  go  to  the  bride's  house  to  bring  her  to  his 
home,  he  and  they  are  met  at  the  door  by  her  parents 

1  From  "  Marriage  Customs  of  the  Mordvins,"  in  London  Folk-Lore, 
I.,  423,  447. 


44  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

with  the  covenanting  bread  and  salt,  and  the  words, 
"  Be  welcome,  come  within."  As  the  bride  is  borne 
out  of  her  old  home  to  go  to  her  new  one,  she  and 
her  party  "all  halt  and  bow  to  the  gate,  for  there,  or 
in  the  courtyard,  is  the  abode  of  the  god  that  pro- 
tects the  dwelling-place.  The  following  prayer  is 
made  to  him  :  '  Kardas  Sarks,  the  nourisher,  god  of 
the  house,  do  not  abandon  her  that  is  about  to  depart; 
always  be  near  her  just  as  thou  art  here.'  "  When 
she  reaches  her  new  home,  she  is  carried  (over  the 
threshold),  in  the  arms  of  some  of  her  party,  into  the 
house  of  the  bridegroom,  carrying  a  lighted  candle.1 

The  custom  survived  in  portions  of  Scotland,  as 
recently  as  the  beginning  of  this  century,  of  lifting  a 
bride  over  the  threshold,  or  the  first  step  of  the  door. 
A  cake  of  bread,  prepared  for  the  occasion,  was,  at 
the  same  time,  broken  by  the  bridegroom's  mother 
over  the  head  of  the  bride.  The  bride  was  then  led 
directly  to  the  hearth,  and  the  poker  and  tongs,  and 
sometimes  the  broom,  were  put  into  her  hands  "  as 
symbols  of  her  office  and  duty." 

Lifting  the  bride  over  the  threshold  has  been  prac- 
ticed in  recent  times,  in  England,  Ireland,  and  the 
United  States.2 

1  From  "  Marriage   Customs  of  the  Mordvins,"  in  London  Folk-Lore, 
I-.  434-443- 

2  Napier's  Folk-Lore  in  the   West  of  Scotland,  p.  51  ;  also  Wood's  Wed- 
ding Day  in  all  Ages  and  Countries,  II.,  59  f. 


LA  YING  FO  UN  DA  TIONS  IN  BLOOD.  45 

Both  bride  and  bridegroom  were  carried,  on  the 
shoulders  of  their  elders,  across  the  threshold  of  their 
new  home,  and  laid  on  their  bridal  bed,  in  the  mar- 
riage ceremonies  of  some  of  the  tribes  of  Central 
America.  And  again  the  bridegroom  carried  his 
bride  in  this  way.1  In  either  case,  it  was  the  cross- 
ing of  the  threshold  without  stepping  on  it  that  was 
the  thing  aimed  at. 

5.    LAYING    FOUNDATIONS    IN    BLOOD. 

In  the  building  of  a  house,  as  a  new  home,  the 
prominence  given  to  the  laying  of  the  threshold,  or  to 
its  dedicating  by  blood,  is  another  indication,  or  out- 
come, of  its  altar -like  sacredness.  In  Upper  Syria  a 
sacrifice  is  often  made  at  the  beginning  of  the  build- 
ing of  a  new  house,  and  again  at  the  first  crossing  of 
its  threshold.  "When  a  new  house  is  built,"  among 
the  Metawileh,  "  the  owner  will  not  reside  in  it  until, 
with  certain  formalities,  a  black  hen  has  been  carried 
several  times  round  the  house  and  slaughtered  within 
the  door,"  as  if  in  covenant  dedication  of  the  house.2 

Among  the  Copts  in  Egypt,  when  the  threshold  of 
a  new  house  is  laid,  the  owner  slaughters  a  sheep  or 
a  goat  on  the  threshold,   and  steps  over  the  blood, 

1  See  Bancroft's  Native  Races,  I.,  662,  703,  73°"734- 
2  On  the  testimony  of  the  Rev.  William  Ewing,  a  missionary  in  Palestine. 


46  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

as  if  in  covenant  for  himself  and  his  household  with 
Him  to  whom  all  blood,  as  life,  belongs.  Then  he 
divides  the  sacrificed  victim  among  his  neighbors  ; 
and  they  in  turn  come  and  step  across  the  blood  on 
the  threshold,  invoking  as  they  do  so  a  blessing  on 
the  new  house  and  its  owner,  while  coming  into  cove- 
nant with  him.1 

The  foundation-stone  of  a  new  building  is,  in  a 
sense,  the  threshold  of  that  structure.  Hence  to  lay 
the  foundations  in  blood  is  to  proffer  blood  at  the 
threshold.  Traces  of  this  custom  are  to  be  found  in 
the  practices  or  the  legends  of  peoples  wellnigh  all 
the  world  over.2  Apparently  the  earlier  sacrifices  were 
of  human  beings.3  Later  they  were  of  animals  sub- 
stituted for  persons.  The  idea  seems  to  have  been 
that  he  who  covenanted  by  blood  with  God,  or  with 
the  gods,  when  his  house,  or  his  city,  was  builded, 
was  guarded,  together  with  his  household,  while  he 
and  they  were  dwellers  there ;  but,  if  he  failed  to 
proffer  a  threshold  sacrifice,  his  first-born,  or  the  first 
person  who  crossed  the  bloodless  threshold,  would  be 
claimed  by  the  ignored  or  defied  deity. 

There  is,  indeed,  a  suggestion  of  this  idea  in  the 

1  A  daughter  of  a  native  Copt  described  to  me  this  ceremony,  as  she 
witnessed  it   at   the  building   of  her  father's  house   in   1878.       He  was 
formerly  a  Coptic  priest,  but  was  now  a  Protestant  Christian. 
2  See  Tylor's  Primitive  Culture,  I.,  104-108. 
3  Strack's  Dcr  Blutaberglaube,  p.  63. 


HUM  A  N  SA  CR  IF  ICES.  47 

curse  pronounced  by  Joshua,  when  he  destroyed  the 
doomed  city  of  Jericho,  against  him  who  should  re- 
build its  walls,  he  not  being  in  covenant  with  and 
obedient  to  the  Lord.  "  Cursed  be  the  man  before 
the  Lord,  that  riseth  up  and  buildeth  this  city  Jericho : 
with  the  loss  of  his  firstborn  shall  he  lay  the  founda- 
tion thereof,  and  with  the  loss  of  his  youngest  son 
shall  he  set  up  the  gates  of  it."  1  A  later  record  tells 
of  the  fulfilment  of  this  curse.  It  says  of  the  reign  of 
Ahab:  "In  his  days  did  Hiel  the  Bethel-ite  build 
Jericho :  he  laid  the  foundation  thereof  with  the  loss 
of  Abiram  his  firstborn,  and  set  up  the  gates  thereof 
with  the  loss  of  his  youngest  son  Segub  ;  according  to 
the  word  of  the  Lord,  which  he  spake  by  the  hand  of 
Joshua  the  son  of  Nun."  2 

Human  sacrifices,  in  order  to  furnish  blood  at  the 
foundations  of  a  house,  or  of  a  public  structure,  have 
been  continued  down  to  recent  times,  or  to  the  pres- 
ent, in  some  portions  of  the  world ;  and  there  are  in- 
dications in  popular  tradition  that  they  were  frequent 
in  a  not  remote  past. 

It  is  said  that  at  the  building  of  Scutari,  in  Asia 
Minor,  "  the  workmen  were  engaged  on  its  fortifica- 
tions for  three  years,  but  the  walls  would  not  stand. 
Then  they  protested  that  the  only  possible  way  to  suc- 
ceed was  to  lay   under   or  in  them  a  living  human 

i  Josh.  6  :  26.  2  1  KinSs  l6  :   34- 


48  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

being.  They  accordingly  laid  hold  of  a  young  woman 
who  brought  them  dinner,  and  immured  her."  l 

According  to  a  story  in  China,  when  the  bridge 
leading  to  the  site  of  St.  John's  College,  in  Shanghai, 
was  in  process  of  building,  an  official  present  took  off 
his  shoes,  as  indicating  his  rank,  and  threw  them  into 
the  stream,  in  order  to  stay  the  current,  and  enable 
the  workmen  to  lay  the  foundations.  Finding  this 
unavailing,  he  took  off  his  garments  and  threw  them 
in.  Finally  he  threw  himself  in,  and  as  his  life  went 
out  the  workmen  were  enabled  to  go  on  with  their 
building.  To  this  day  the  belief  is  general  that  that 
structure  stands  fast  because  of  this  sacrifice.2  v 

"  When  the  walls  of  Algiers  were  built  of  blocks  of 
concrete  [by  Muhammadans],  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
a  Christian  captive  named  Geronimo  was  placed  in  one 
of  the  blocks  and  the  rampart  built  over  and  about  him. 
Since  the  French  occupation  of  Algiers  a  subsidence 
in  the  wall  led  to  an  examination  of  the  blocks,  and  one 
was  found  to  have  given  way.  It  was  removed,  and 
the  cast  of  Geronimo  was  discovered  in  the  block. 
The  body  had  gone  to  dust,  and  the  superincumbent 
weight  had  crushed  in  the  stone  sarcophagus."3 

1  See  article  "  On  Kirk-Grims  "  in  The  Comhill  Magazine  for  February, 
1887,  p.  196. 

2  On  the  testimony  of  a  native  Chinese  clergyman. 

3  See  article  "  On   Kirk-Grims"  in    The  Comhill  Magazine  for  Feb- 
ruary, 1S37. 


CHILDREN  OFFERED.  49 

A  story  told  among  the  Danes  is,  that  "  many 
years  ago,  when  the  ramparts  were  being  raised  round 
Copenhagen,  the  wall  always  sank,  so  that  it  was 
not  possible  to  get  it  to  stand  firm.  They  there- 
fore took  a  little  innocent  girl,  placed  her  in  a  chair 
by  a  table,  and  gave  her  playthings  and  sweetmeats. 
While  she  thus  sat  enjoying  herself,  twelve  masons 
built  an  arch  over  her,  which,  when  completed,  they 
covered  with  earth  to  the  sound  of  drums  and  trum- 
pets.    By  this  process  the  walls  were  made  solid."  x 

"  Thuringian  legend  declares  that  to  make  the  cas- 
tle of  Liebenstein  fast  and  impregnable,  a  child  was 
bought  for  hard  money  of  its  mother,  and  walled  in. 
It  was  eating  a  cake  while  the  masons  were  at  work, 
the  story  goes,  and  it  cried,  '  Mother,  I  see  thee  still ; ' 
then  later,  '  Mother,  I  see  thee  a  little  still ; '  and  as 
they  put  in  the  last  stone,  '  Mother,  now  I  see  thee  no 
more.'  " 2 

A  similar  story  is  told  of  a  Slavic  town  on  the 
Danube.  A  plague  devastated  it,  and  it  was  deter- 
mined to  build  it  anew,  with  a  new  citadel.  "  Acting 
on  the  advice  of  their  wisest  men,  they  sent  out  mes- 
sengers before  sunrise  one  morning  in  all  directions, 
with  orders  to  seize  upon  the  first  living  creature  they 

1See  article  "  On  Kirk  Grims  "  in   The  Cornhill  Magazine,  for  Feb- 
ruary, 1887,  p.  191. 

2  Tylor's  Primitive  Culture,  I.,  104  f. 

4 


50  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

should  meet.  The  victim  proved  to  be  a  child 
(Dyetina,  archaic  form  of  Ditya),  who  was  buried  alive 
under  the  foundation-stone  of  the  new  citadel.  The 
city  was  on  that  account  called  Dyetinets  [or  Deti- 
netz],  a  name  since  applied  to  any  citadel."1 

It  is  even  said  that  "  when,  a  few  years  ago,  the 
Bridge  Gate  of  the  Bremen  city  walls  was  demolished, 
the  skeleton  of  a  child  was  found  imbedded  in  the 
foundations."2 

A  Scottish  legend  tells  that  St.  Columba  found 
himself  unable  to  build  a  cathedral  on  the  island  of 
Iona  unless  he  would  secure  its  stability  and  safety 
by  the  blood  of  a  human  sacrifice.  Thereupon  he 
took  his  companion,  Oran,  and  buried  him  alive  at 
the  foundations  of  the  structure,  having  no  trouble 
after  that.3 

And  it  is  said  that  under  the  walls  of  the  only  two 
round  towers  of  the  ancient  Irish  examined,  human 
skeletons  were  found  buried.4 

Until  the  transfer  of  Alaska  to  the  United  States,  in 
1867,  by  the  Russian  government,  human  sacrifices  at 

1  Ralston's  Songs  of  the  Russian  People,  p.  128. 

2  See  article  "  On  Kirk-Grims  "  in  The  Cornhill  Magazine  for  February, 
1887,  p.  191. 

3  See  Gomme's  article  on  "  Traditions  Connected  with  Buildings,"  in 
The  Antiquary,  III.,  II. 

4  See  Coote's  "A  Building  Superstition,"  in  London  Folk- Lore  Journal, 
I.,  22  f. 


CORNER-POSTS  AND  HEAR  TH.  5  I 

the  foundation  of  a  new  house  were  common  in  that 
portion  of  America.  The  ceremonies  are  thus  de- 
scribed by  one  familiar  with  them  :  "  The  rectangular 
space  for  the  building  is  .  .  .  cleared,  a  spot  for  the 
fireplace  designated,  and  four  holes  dug,  wherein  the 
corner  posts  are  to  be  set.  ...  A  slave,  either  man  or 
woman  who  has  been  captured  in  war  or  is  even  a 
descendant  of  such  a  slave,  is  blindfolded  and  com- 
pelled to  lie  down  face  uppermost,  in  the  place  selected 
for  the  fireplace  [the  site  of  the  domestic  altar].  A 
sapling  is  then  cut,  laid  across  the  throat  of  the  slave, 
and,  at  a  given  signal,  the  two  nearest  relatives  of  the 
host  sit  upon  the  respective  ends  of  the  sapling,  there- 
by choking  the  unhappy  wretch  to  death.  But  the 
corner  posts  must  receive  their  baptism ;  so  four  slaves 
are  blindfolded,  and  one  is  forced  to  stand  in  each 
post-hole,  when,  at  a  given  signal,  a  blow  on  the  fore- 
head is  dealt  with  a  peculiar  club  ornamented  with 
the  host's  coat  of  arms."  It  is  said  that  even  to  the 
present  time,  on  the  building  of  a  house  in  Alaska, 
"  the  same  ceremonies  are  enacted,  with  the  exception 
of  the  sacrifices,  which  are  prevented  by  the  United 
States  authorities."  x 

In  Hindoostan,  Burmah,Tennasserin,  Borneo,  Japan, 
Galam,  Yarriba,  Polynesia,  and  elsewhere,  there  are 

i  See  W.  G.  Chase's  "  Notes  from  Alaska,"  in  Journal  of  American 
Folk-Lore,  VI.,  51. 


52  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

modern  survivals  of  this  foundation-laying  in  blood.1 
It  would  seem,  indeed,  to  have  been  wellnigh  universal 
as  a  primitive  usage. 

Popular  ballads  give  other  indications  of  such  cus- 
toms, in  various  lands.  "  In  a  song,  of  which  there 
are  several  versions,  of  the  building  of  the  bridge 
of  Arta,  it  is  told  how  the  bridge  fell  down  as  fast 
as  it  was  built,  until  at  last  the  master-builder 
dreamed  a  dream  that  it  would  only  stand  if  his  own 
wife  were  buried  alive  in  the  foundations.  He  there- 
fore sends  for  her,  bidding  her  dress  in  festival  attire, 
and  then  finds  an  excuse  to  make  her  descend  into 
the  central  pile,  whereupon  they  heap  the  earth  over 
her,  and  thus  the  bridge  stands  fast."2 

"  In  another  song  the  same  story  is  told  of  the 
Bridge  of  Tricha,  with  the  difference  only  that  it  is  a 
little  bird  that  whispers  in  the  architect's  ear  how  the 
pile  may  be  made  to  stand.  A  similar  superstition 
connected  with  the  building  of  the  monastery  Curtea 
de  Argest,  in  Wallachia,  forms  the  subject  of  a  fine 
poem  by  the  Roumanian  poet  Alexandri."3 

There  is  an  indication  of  a  like  custom  among-  the 
Vlachs  in  Turkey,  as  shown  in  their  folk-poetry. 
The  ballad  of  the  "  Monastery  of  Argis"  tells  of  such 

1See  Tylor's  Primitive  Culture,  I.,  104-108. 

2  Rodd's  Customs  and  Lcre  of  Modern  Greece,  p.  168  f. 

3  Ibid. 


THE  DEITY  OF  THE  THRESHOLD.  5  3 

an  incident,  in  which  the  master-builder  Manoli  plays 
a  part.1 

Various  substitutes  for  human  offerings  at  the  lay- 
ing of  a  foundation-stone,  or  a  threshold,  have  been 
adopted  in  different  countries.  Thus,  in  modern 
Greece,  "after  the  ground  has  been  cleared  for  the 
foundations  of  a  new  house,  the  future  owner,  his 
family,  and  the  workmen  attend,  together  with  the 
pappas  [the  priest]  in  full  canonicals,  accompanied 
by  incense,  holy  water,  and  all  due  accessories.  A 
prayer  is  said,  and  those  present  are  aspersed,  and 
the  site  is  sprinkled  with  the  consecrated  water. 
Then  a  fowl  or  a  lamb,  which  you  have  noticed  lying 
near  with  the  feet  tied  together,  is  taken  by  one  of  the 
workmen,  killed  and  decapitated,  the  pappas  standing 
by  all  the  while,  and  even  giving  directions;  the 
blood  is  then  smeared  on  the  foundation-stone,  in  the 
fulfilment  of  the  popular  adage  that  'there  must  be 
blood  in  the  foundation.'  " 2 

The  modern  Greek  term  for  this  ceremony,  stoichci- 
oncin,  would  seem  to  indicate  a  sacrifice  to  the  deity 
of  the  threshold,  or  the  foundation. 

"The  Bulgarians,  it  is  said,  when  laying  a  house 
foundation,  take  a  thread,  and  measure  the  shadow  of 
some  casual  passer-by.     The  measure  is  then  buried 

1  Garnett's  Women  of  Turkey  ("  Christian  Women  "),  p.  22. 
2  Rodd's  Customs  and  Lore  of  Modern  Greece,  p.  148. 


54  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

under  the  foundation-stone,  and  it  is  expected  that  the 
man  whose  shadow  has  been  thus  treated  will  soon 
become  but  a  shade  himself.  .  .  .  Sometimes  a  victim 
is  put  to  death  on  the  occasion  ;  the  foundations  being 
sprinkled  with  the  blood  of  a  fowl,  or  a  lamb,  or  some 
other  species  of  scapegoat"  1 

Among  the  Russian  peasants  the  idea  prevails  that 
the  building  of  a  new  house  "  is  apt  to  be  followed  by 
the  death  of  the  head  of  the  family  for  which  the  new 
dwelling  is  constructed,  or  that  the  member  of  the 
family  who  is  the  first  to  enter  it  will  soon  die.  In 
accordance  with  a  custom  of  great  antiquity,  the  oldest 
member  of  a  migrating  household  enters  the  new 
house  first ;  and  in  many  places,  as,  for  instance,  in 
the  Government  of  Archangel,  some  animal  is  killed 
and  buried  on  the  spot  on  which  the  first  log  or  stone 
is  laid."2 

The  "  upper  corner  "  of  a  house,  in  Russia,  is  pecu- 
liarly sacred,  having  even  more  honor  than  the  door- 
way threshold  in  the  ordinary  home.  Yet  this  upper 
corner  seems  to  be  in  a  sense  the  real  threshold,  or 
foundation  corner,  of  the  building.  A  cock  is  the 
ordinary  victim  sacrificed  "  on  the  spot  which  a  pro- 
jected house  is  to  cover."  The  head  of  this  cock  is 
buried   "  exactly  where    the    '  upper  corner '   of  the 

1  See  Ralston's  Songs  of  the  Russian  People,  p.  126. 
2  Ibid.,  p.  127. 


THRESHOLD  AT  THE  CORNER.  55 

building  is  to  stand."  And  this  corner  is  thence- 
forward a  sacred  corner.  Opposite  to  it  is  the  stove. 
It  is  called  the  "great"  and  the  "beautiful "  corner. 
The  family  meal  is  eaten  before  it,  and  every  one  who 
enters  the  cottage  makes  obeisance  toward  it.  For- 
merly ancestral  images  are  supposed  to  have  been  in 
that  corner,  and  now  holy  pictures  are  there.1  It 
would  seem  to  be  in  accordance  with  this  idea  that 
the  foundation-stone,  or  threshold,  of  a  new  building, 
which  in  civilized  lands  is  now  laid  with  imposing 
ceremonies,  is  known  as  the  "corner-stone."  Yet  the 
"  corner-stone  "  of  a  modern  building  is  sometimes  at 
the  corner  of  the  central  doorway.2 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  in  ancient  Egypt  the  one 
door  of  an  ordinary  dwelling-house  was  placed  at  one 
side,  or  end,  of  the  front  wall,  and  not  in  the  center  ; 
so  that  the  corner-stone  of  the  building  was  literally  a 
portion  of  the  threshold.3  The  same  was  true  of  many 
an  old-time  New  England  house ;  the  "  front  door  " 
was  at  the  left-hand  side  (as  one  approached  the  house) 
of  the  gable  end.  Thus  the  threshold  of  the  door  was 
often  the  corner-stone. 

Ancient  Romans  were  accustomed  to  place  statues 
and  images,  instead  of  living  persons,  under  the  foun- 

1  Ralston's  Songs  of  the  Russian  People,  p.  135  f. 
2  This  is  the   case  with   the   Church    House   in   Philadelphia,  —  the 
"corner-stone"  of  which  was  laid  while  this  page  was  writing. 
3  See  Erman's  Life  in  Ancient  Egypt,  p.  175. 


56  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

dations  of  their  buildings,  as  has  been  shown  by 
recent  researches  in  and  about  Rome.1  In  one  in- 
stance, where  a  fine  statue  of  colossal  size  and  in  per- 
fect preservation  was  unearthed,  at  the  foundations  of 
a  convent  which  was  being  enlarged,  "  by  order  of  the 
monks,  it  was  buried  again,"  as  if  in  deference  to  the 
primitive  belief  that  it  was  essential  to  the  stability 
of  the  structure.2 

There  is  a  Swedish  tradition  "  that  under  the  altar 
in  the  first  Christian  churches  a  lamb  was  usually 
buried,  which  imparted  security  and  duration  to  the 
edifice."  3  And,  "  according  to  Danish  accounts, 
a  lamb  was  buried  under  every  altar,  and  a  living 
horse  was  laid  in  every  churchyard  before  a  human 
corpse  was  laid  in  it.  Both  lamb  and  horse  are  to 
be  seen  occasionally  in  the  church-  or  grave-  yard,  and 
betoken  death.  Under  other  houses  pigs  and  hens 
were  buried  alive."4 

A  new  sacrificial  stone,  or  altar  of  sacrifice,  laid  on 
the  summit  of  a  Mexican  temple,  in  15  12,  was  conse- 
crated by  Montezuma  by  the  blood  of  more  than 
twelve  thousand  captives.5 

1  See  Coote's  "  A  Building  Superstition,"  in  London  Folk- Lore  Journal, 
I.,  22. 

2  Lanciani's  Ancient  Rome  in  the  Light  of  Recent  Discoveries,  p.  225  f. 

3  See  article  "On  Kirk-Grims  "  in  The  Cornhill  Magazine  for  Febru- 
ary, 1887,  p.  192. 

4  Ibid.,  p.  195. 

5  See  Bancroft's  Native  Races,  V.,  471. 


APPEALS  AT  THE  ALTAR.  $? 

When  the  new  railroad  was  built  between  Jaffa  and 
Jerusalem,  a  few  years  ago,  there  were  sacrifices  of 
sheep  at  its  beginning.  And  there  were  similar  sacri- 
fices at  the  foundations  of  the  Turkish  building,  at  the 
Columbian  Exposition  at  Chicago. 

In  all  these  facts  or  legends,  blood  on  the  threshold 
of  the  building,  in  the  foundation-stones  of  the  struc- 
ture, is  shown  to  have  been  deemed  an  essential  factor 
in  a  covenant  with,  or  in  propitiation  of,  the  deity  of 
the  place. 

6.    APPEALS    AT    THE    ALTAR. 

Because  the  threshold  is  recognized  as  an  altar, 
nearness  to  the  altar  is  nearness  to  God,  or  to  the 
gods  worshiped  at  that  altar.  Hence  appeals  are  made 
and  justice  is  sought  at  the  gate,  or  at  the  threshold, 
as  in  the  presence  of  deity. 

To  present  one's  self  at  the  tent  doorway,  or  to  lay 
hold  of  the  supports,  or  cords,  at  the  entrance  of  an 
Arab's  "  house  of  hair,"  is  recognized  as  an  ever- 
effective  appeal  for  hospitality  in  the  East.  Even  an 
enemy  can  thus  secure  the  protection  of  the  home 
sanctuary.1 

In  the  excavation  of  Tell-el-Hesy,  in  Southwestern 
Palestine,  supposed  to  cover  the   remains  of  ancient 

1  See  Trumbull's  Studies  in  Oriental  Social  Life,  pp.  98, 112-131. 


58  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

Lachish,1  Dr.  Petrie  discovered  various  ornamented 
door-jambs.  In  one  case  a  simple  volute  on  a  pilaster 
slab  suggested  to  Dr.  Petrie  "  a  ram's  horn  nailed  up 
against  a  wooden  post ; "  and  "  he  sees  in  this  the 
origin  of  the  type  of  the  '  horns  of  the  altar,' 2  so  often 
mentioned  in  temple  architecture." 3  If  Dr.  Petrie  be 
correct  in  this  thought,  the  horns  of  the  altar  were  first 
of  all  at  the  house  doorway,  above  the  threshold  altar. 

One  of  the  fundamental  laws  of  the  Afghans  makes 
it  incumbent  on  a  host  to  "  shelter  and  protect  any 
one  who  in  extremity  may  flee  to  his  threshold,  and 
seek  an  asylum  under  his  roof."  Property  or  life 
must  be  sacrificed  in  his  behalf,  if  need  be.  "  As  soon 
as  you  have  crossed  the  threshold  of  an  Afghan  you 
are  sacred  to  him,  though  you  were  his  deadly  foe, 
and  he  will  give  up  his  own  life  to  save  yours."  A 
favorite  poem  of  the  Afghan,  entitled,  "  Adam  Khan 
and  Durkhani,"  tells  of  a  son  who  killed  his  father 
because  that  father  had  betrayed  a  refugee  who  sought 
the  sanctuary  of  his  threshold.  And  all  Afghans 
honor  the  memory  of  that  son.4 

Among  the  Arabs  of  the  Syrian  desert,  when  a 
man  would  leave  his  own  tribe  and  join  himself  to 

1  See  Josh.  10  :  3-35  ;  12:11;  15  :  39  ;  2  Kings  14 :  19 ;  18  :  14-19,  etc. 

2  See,  for  example,  1  Kings  2  :  28. 

3  See  Bliss's  Mound  of  Many  Cities,  p.  77  f. 

4  See  "  Afghan  Life  in  Afghan  Songs,"  in  Darmesteter's  Selected  Essays, 
p.  117. 


PR O TECTION  A  T  THE  DOOR  WA  Y.  59 

another,  he  takes  a  lamb  or  a  goat  with  him,  and 
presents  himself  at  the  entrance  of  the  tent  of  the 
shaykh  of  the  tribe  he  would  find  a  home  in.  Slaying 
the  animal  there,  and  allowing  its  blood  to  run  out  on 
the  ground  at  the  threshold  of  the  tent,  he  makes  his 
appeal  to  the  shaykh  to  accept  him  as  a  member  of 
his  tribe,  or  as  a  son  by  adoption.  And  this  appeal 
has  peculiar  force,  as  a  voice  by  blood.1 

When  a  man  among  these  tribes  is  in  peril  of  his 
life,  pursued  by  an  enemy,  he  can  similarly  make  an 
appeal  for  sanctuary  at  the  threshold  altar  of  a  shaykh's 
tent,  with  a  like  outpouring  of  the  blood  of  an  animal 
brought  by  him;  and  protection  must  be  granted  him 
by  the  shaykh.  It  is  as  though  he  had  laid  hold  of 
the  "  horns  of  the  altar."  So,  again,  when  a  man 
would  be  reconciled  with  an  enemy  who  has  cause  for 
bitter  hostility,  he  goes  to  the  tent  of  that  enemy 
and  sacrifices  an  animal  at  the  threshold,  with  an 
appeal  for  forgiveness.  This  offering  of  a  threshold 
sacrifice  secures  his  safety. 

In  other  portions  of  Arabia  this  same  idea  finds  a 
different  but  similar  expression.  "  With  bare  and 
shaven  head  the  offender  appears  at  the  door  of  the 
injured  person,  holding  a  knife  in  each  hand,  and, 
reciting  a  formula  provided  for  the  purpose,  strikes 

1  On  the  testimony  of  a  native  Syrian  of  wide  experience  in  the  region 
referred  to. 


60  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

his  head  several  times  with  the  sharp  blades.  Then 
drawing  his  hands  over  his  bloody  scalp,  he  wipes 
them  on  the  door-post.  The  other  must  then  come 
out  and  cover  the  suppliant's  head  with  a  shawl 
[covering  the  offense,  in  covering  the  offender],  after 
which  he  kills  a  sheep,  and  they  sit  down  together  at 
a  feast  of  reconciliation."1 

A  record  on  a  Babylonian  clay  tablet,  of  the  twenty- 
eighth  year  of  Nebuchadrezzar,  affirms  that  "  on  the 
second  day  of  the  month  of  Ab  "  a  certain  "  Imbi'a 
shall  bring  his  witness  to  the  gate  of  the  house  of  the 
chief  Bel-iddin,  and  let  him  testify  "  as  to  a  certain 
matter.2  The  gate  of  the  chief  man,  or  local  magis- 
trate, would  here  seem  to  have  been  the  recognized 
court  of  justice. 

In  the  palace  ruins  at  Persepolis  and  Susa,  the  great 
doorways  show,  in  their  architecture,  the  influence  of 
Babylonia,  Assyria,  and  Egypt.  And  in  the  relief 
sculpture  of  those  doorways  there  is  seen  a  repre- 
sentation of  "  the  king  sitting  on  his  throne  rendering 
justice  at  his  palace  gate."  3 

At  one  of  the  gates  of  modern  Cairo,  the  writer  has 
seen  a  venerable  Arab  sitting  in  judgment  on  a  case 

1  W.  Robertson  Smith's  Religion  of  the  Semites,  p.  319. 

2  Strassmaier  Nabuchodonosor,  No.  183. 

3  Dieulafoy's  "  L'art  antique  de  la  Perse;  "  cited  in  Babelon's  Manual 
of  Oriental  Antiquities,  p.  152. 


SEEKING  JUSTICE  A  T  THE  GA  TE.  6 1 

submitted  to  him  by  the  contestants.  And  such  a 
scene  may  be  often  witnessed  at  the  gates  of  an 
Oriental  city. 

In  accordance  with  this  primitive  idea,  it  became  a 
custom  in  India  for  one  who  would  obtain  justice  from 
another  to  seat  himself  at  the  door  of  a  house,  or  a  tent, 
and  refuse  to  move  from  that  position  until  he  starved 
to  death,  unless  his  claim  were  heeded.  If  the  suitor 
died  at  the  door,  or  the  household  altar,  the  sin  of 
his  death  rested  upon  the  householder.  The  suitor's 
blood  cried  out  against  the  evil-doer. 

Even  to  the  present  time  appeals  at  the  household 
altar  are  made  in  blood,  in  portions  of  India.  A  case 
recently  before  the  British  court  in  Kathiawar  in- 
volved an  illustration  of  such  an  appeal.  One  of  the 
Charaus,  a  caste  of  heralds,  had  become  responsible 
with  his  life,  according  to  custom,  for  the  repayment 
of  a  loan  made  to  a  land  owner.  The  land  owner 
delayed  payment,  and  seemed  disposed  to  avoid  it. 
'  The  herald  and  his  brother,  with  their  old  mother 
for  a  sacrifice,  went  to  the  door  of  the  debtor's  house 
and  demanded  payment,  as  their  family  honor  was  at 
stake.  When  the  land  owner  would  not  pay,  the  her- 
ald struck  off  the  head  of  his  mother  with  his  sword 
before  the  door,  the  brother  at  the  same  time  wounded 
(intending  to  kill)  the  debtor,  and  the  two  brothers 
sprinkled  the  mingled  blood  of  the  sacrifice  on  the 


62  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

householder's  door-posts.  The  land  owner,  smitten 
by  public  infamy  and  the  guilt  of  the  matricide,  starved 
himself  to  death."1  References  to  this  responsibility 
of  the  heralds  are  found  in  the  Mahabharata.2 

Even  where  the  primitive  custom  of  sacrificing  at 
the  doorway  has  died  out,  there  sometimes  seems  to 
be  a  survival  of  it  in  popular  phraseology.  Talcott 
Williams,  of  Philadelphia,  relates  an  incident  of  his 
experiences  in  Morocco,  which  illustrates  this.  He 
says  :  "  As  I  was  riding  through  the  Soko  at  Tangier 
on  a  morning  in  June,  1889,  a  servant  stopped  me, 
and  said  :  '  Four  men,  from  near  Azila  (a  town  on 
the  seacoast  of  Morocco,  about  thirty  miles  away), 
are  wraiting  for  you  at  the  gate  of  the  house  of  Mr. 
Perdicarus,  and  they  have  killed  a  sheep.'  '  What 
have  they  killed  a  sheep  for  ?  ■  said  I.  '  Oh  ! '  said 
the  servant,  'I  don't  mean  that  they  have  actually 
killed  a  sheep,  but  they  are  sitting  at  the  gate,  asking 
for  your  help,  and  expect  you  to  aid  them  in  their 
trouble,  because  they  have  heard  that  you  have  in- 
fluence with  the  American  consul,  and  are  a  man  of 
importance  in  your  own  country,  and  we  call  that 
"  killing  a  sheep."  '  I  think  he  added  '  at  the  gate,' 
but  my  memory  is  not  perfectly  clear  at  this  point.  I 
rode  on  to  the  house  of  my  friend,  where  I  was  stop- 

1  See  The  Times  (London)  for  July  12,  1894. 
2  See  Hopkins's  Religions  of  India,  p.  361,  note. 


SA  CRIFICE  A  T  THE  GA  TE.  63 

ping,  and  found  there  the  kinsman  of  a  sheikh,  who 
had  been  imprisoned  by  the  American  consul.  They 
seized  my  horse's  bridle,  and,  with  the  usual  Oriental 
signs  of  respect,  refused  to  let  me  dismount  until  I 
had  heard  them  and  their  plea  for  help. 

"  I  was  told  by  my  own  servant  and  the  other  Ori- 
entals there,  that  this  plea  '  at  the  gate,'  accompanied 
as  it  was  by  the  readiness  to  '  kill  a  sheep,'  was  one 
which  no  man  in  Morocco  would  dream  of  disregard- 
ing. I  made  some  inquiry  on  the  subject  afterwards, 
and  found  that  the  habit  of  sitting  at  the  gate  waiting 
for  a  man  of  supposed  influence  or  authority,  while 
absent,  to  return  to  his  house,  often  actually  accom- 
panied, though  less  frequently  at  present,  by  the 
slaughter  of  a  sheep,  whose  blood  is  poured  across 
the  road  over  which  he  must  pass,  was  a  form  used 
only  in  cases  of  dire  necessity,  and  one  to  which  a 
man  with  whom  other  pleas  would  avail  nothing,  felt 
compelled  to  give  attention.  I  am  glad  to  add  that 
in  my  own  case  this  ancient  rite  was  not  without  its 
fruits  to  those  who  had  used  it."  l 

See  the  Bible  references  to  this  idea.  Moses  stood 
"  in  the  gate  of  the  camp,"  at  a  crisis  hour  in  Israel's 
history,  when  he  would  execute  judgment  in  the 
Lord's  cause.2  All  Israel  was  aroused  to  do  judg- 
ment against  the  sinning  Benjamites  because  of  the 

1  In  a  personal  letter  to  the  Author.  2  Exod.  32  :  26. 


64  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

appeal  of  the  dying  woman  who  fell  at  the  door  of  the 
house,  "  with  her  hands  upon  the  threshold."  l  Boaz 
"  went  up  to  the  gate,"  to  meet  the  elders  there,  when 
he  would  covenant  to  do  justice  by  Ruth  and  the  kins- 
man of  Naomi.2  Absalom  sat  in  "  the  way  of  the  gate  " 
when  he  would  show  favor  to  those  who  came  there 
with  their  appeals  for  justice.3  And  when  Absalom 
was  dead,  David  as  king  was  again  sitting  in  the  gate.4 
Zedekiah,  the  king  of  Judah,  was  sitting  in  the  gate  of 
Benjamin  when  Ebed-melech  appealed  to  him  in  behalf 
of  Jeremiah.5  Daniel's  post  of  honor  in  Babylon  was  "  in 
the  gate  of  the  king,"  as  a  judge  in  the  king's  name.6 

Wisdom,  personified,  says  of  him  who  would  seek 
help  where  it  is  to  be  obtained  : 

"  Blessed  is  the  man  that  heareth  me, 
Watching  daily  at  my  gates, 
Waiting  at  the  posts  of  my  doors."  7 

The  Lord's  call  to  Israel,  through  the  prophets,  was : 
"  Establish  judgment  in  the  gate," 8  and  "  Execute  the 
judgment  of  truth  and  peace  in  your  gates." 9  A  refer- 
ence to  a  just  and  righteous  man  is  to  "him  that 
reproveth  in  the  gate."  10 

Lazarus  in  his  need  is  laid  daily  at  the  gate  of  the 
rich  Dives,  seeking  help.11     So,  again,  the  poor  man 

1  Judg.  19  :  25-30.  2  Ruth  4  :  1-10.                  *  2  Sam.  15  :  2-4. 

4  2  Sam.  19  :  8.  &  Jer.  38  :  7-9.                         6  Dan.  2  :  49. 

7  Prov.  8  :  34.  8  Amos  5  :  15.                         9  Zech.  8  :  16. 

10  Isa.  29  :  21.  n  jjUke  16  :  19,  20. 


JUSTICE  A  T  THE  GA  TE.  65 

who  was  a  cripple  from  his  birth  was  "laid  daily  at 
the  door  of  the  temple  .  .  .  called  Beautiful,  to  ask 
alms  of  them  that  entered  into  the  temple."  l 

It  is  written  in  the  Mosaic  law,  that,  when  a  bond- 
man would  bind  himself  and  his  family  in  permanent 
servitude  to  his  loved  master,  "  his  master  shall  bring 
him  unto  God  [or  to  the  place  of  judgment  and  of 
covenant],  and  shall  bring  him  to  the  door,  or  unto  the 
door-post ;  and  his  master  shall  bore  his  ear  through 
with  an  awl;  and  he  shall  [thenceforward]  serve  him 
forever;  "  2  or,  as  it  is  elsewhere  said,  the  master  shall 
thrust  the  awl  "  through  his  ear,  unto  [or  into]  the 
door."  3  Here,  apparently,  the  master  and  servant 
appeal  together  at  the  household  altar,  in  witness 
of  their  sacred  covenant. 

The  high  court  of  Turkey  is  still  called  the  "  Sub- 
lime Porte,"  the  "  Exalted  Gateway;  "  and  the  subjects 
of  the  Sultan  seek  imperial  favor  at  his  palace  door. 
He,  or  his  representative,  administers  justice  there,  to 
those  who  are  waiting  at  his  gate. 

A  promise  to  Abraham  was  :  "  Thy  seed  shall 
possess  the  gate  of  his  enemies."  4  And  again  Jesus 
says  of  his  Church,  that  "  the  gates  of  Hades  shall  not 
prevail  against  it."  5  In  both  these  cases  "  gates  "  are 
obviously  equivalent  to  the  power  of  those  who  are 

1  Acts  3  :  3,  10.  2  Exod.  21 :  5,  6.  3  Deut.  14  :  17. 

*  Gen.  22  :  17.  5  Matt.  16  :  18. 

5 


66  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

within  the  gates.  Thus,  also,  when  the  overthrow  of 
a  city  is  foretold  in  prophecy,  it  is  said,  that  "the  gate 
is  smitten  with  destruction."  1 


7.    COVENANT    TOKENS    ON    THE    DOORWAY. 

Because  the  threshold  of  the  doorway  is  the  primi- 
tive altar  of  the  household,  the  doorway  itself  is,  as  it 
were,  a  framework  above  the  altar ;  and  the  side-posts 
and  lintel  of  the  doorway  fittingly  bear  tokens  or  in- 
scriptions in  testimony  to  the  sacredness  of  the  pas- 
sage into  the  home  sanctuary.  It  would  seem  that 
originally  the  blood  poured  out  in  sacrifice  on  the 
threshold  was  made  use  of  for  marking  the  door-posts 
and  lintel  with  proofs  of  the  covenant  entered  into  be- 
tween the  in-comer  and  the  host ;  and  that  afterwards 
other  symbols  of  life,  and  appropriate  inscriptions, 
were  substituted  for  the  blood  itself. 

There  are  survivals  in  the  East,  at  the  present  time, 
of  the  original  method  of  blood-marking  the  frame  of 
the  doorway ;  and  there  are  traces  of  its  practice  in 
ancient  times  in  both  the  East  and  the  West.  Presi- 
dent Washburn,  of  Robert  College,  Constantinople, 
says:2  "I  remember,  after  the  great  fire  in  Stamboul, 
in  1865,  going  over  the  ruins,  and  coming  to  a  house 
that  the  fire  had  spared ;  a  sheep  had  been  sacrificed 

1  Isa.  24  :  12.  2  In  a  personal  letter  to  the  Author. 


COVENANT  TOKENS  ON  THE  DOORWAY.    67 

on  the  threshold,  and  a  hand  dipped  in  the  blood  and 
struck  upon  the  two  door-posts." 

This  appears,  also,  in  the  installing  of  a  Chief 
Rabbi  in  modern  Jerusalem.  In  the  welcome  to 
the  Hakham  Bashi,  or  the  ''First  in  Zion," l  "the 
multitude  of  those  gathered  together  accompany  him 
to  his  house,  but  before  he  sets  the  sole  of  his  foot 
upon  the  threshold  of  the  outer  gate  [or  court]  one 
of  the  shokheteem  [or  official  slaughterers]  slays  a 
perfect  beast,  and  pronounces  the  sacrificial  blessing, 
and  all  those  present  answer,  Amen.  Then  the  rabbi, 
the  Hakham  Bashi,  steps  over  the  beast  which  has 
been  slain,  and  the  shokhet  dips  the  two  palms  of  his 
hands  into  the  blood,  and  marks  first  the  vessels  of  the 
rabbi's  house.  And,  with  his  hands  stained  with 
blood,  he  forms  the  semblance  of  a  hand  above  the 
lintel  of  the  door; — in  their  trust  that  this  thing  is 
good  [the  proper  thing]  for  the  evil  eye; — and  the 
flesh  of  the  beast  they  distribute  to  the  poor."  2 

A  custom  in  this  same  line  is  noted  among  the  Jews 
in  Morocco,  in  connection  with  wedding  observances. 
"Whilst  the  bullock,  or  other  animal,  is  being  slaugh- 
tered for  the  evening's  festivities,  a  number  of  boys 
dip  their  hands  in  the  blood,  and  make  an  impression 
of  an  outspread  hand  on  the  door-posts  and  walls  of 

1  See  Finn's  Stirring  Times,  I.,  102  f. 

2  A.  M.  Luncz,  in  Jerushalayim,  p.  17. 


68  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

the  bride's  house;"  supposedly  "for  the  purpose  of 
keeping  off  the  'evil  eye,'  and  thus  ensuring  good  luck 
to  the  newly  married  couple."  l 

There  are  indications  of  such  a  custom  in  ancient 
times.  Layard  says  of  his  researches  in  Assyria : 
"  On  all  the  slabs  forming  entrances  in  the  oldest 
palaces  of  Nimroud,  were  marks  of  a  black  fluid 
resembling  blood,  which  appeared  to  be  daubed  on 
the  stone.  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  the 
nature  of  this  fluid ;  but  its  appearance  cannot  fail  to 
call  to  mind  the  Jewish  ceremony  of  placing  the 
blood  of  the  sacrifice  on  the  lintel  of  the  doorway."2 

In  ancient  Egypt  there  were  inscriptions,  together 
with  the  name  of  the  owner,  on  the  side-posts  and 
lintels  of  the  dwellings.  "Besides  the  owner's  name," 
says  Wilkinson,3  "they  sometimes  wrote  a  lucky  sen- 
tence over  the  entrance  of  the  house,  for  a  favorable 
omen,  as  '  The  Good  Abode,'  the  mimzel  mobarak  of 
the  modern  Arabs,  or  something  similar  ;  and  the 
lintels  and  imposts  of  the  doors  in  the  royal  mansions 
were  frequently  covered  with  hieroglyphics,  containing 
the  ovals  and  titles  of  the  monarch.  It  was,  perhaps, 
at  the  dedication  of  the  house,  that  these  sentences 
were  affixed ;  and  we  may  infer,  from  the  early  men- 

1  Home  and  Synagogue  of  the  Modern  Jew,  p.  30. 

2  Nineveh  and  its  Remains  (Am.  ed.),  II.,  202. 

3  Ancient  Egyptians,  I.,  346,  361  f. 


THE  JE  WISH  MEZUZA .  69 

tion  of  this  custom  among  the  Jews,  that  it  was  de- 
rived from  Egypt."1 

When  it  is  understood  that  the  inscribing,  on  the 
doorways,  of  dedications  to  protecting  deities,  was 
common  among  primitive  peoples,  it  would  seem  to 
be  in  accordance  with  that  custom  that  the  Hebrews 
were  commanded  to  dedicate  their  doorways  to  the 
one  living  God.  It  is  said  of  the  words  of  the  cove- 
nant of  God  with  his  people,  as  recorded  in  Deuter- 
onomy 6  :  4-9  and  11  :  13-21,  "Thou  shalt  write  them 
upon  the  door  posts  of  thy  house,  and  upon  thy 
gates."  To  this  day,  among  stricter  Jews,  these 
covenant  words  inscribed  on  parchment,  and  enclosed 
in  a  cylinder  of  glass,  or  a  case  of  metal  or  of  wood, 
are  affixed  to  the  side-posts  of  every  principal  door  in 
the  house.  This  case  and  inscription  are  called  the 
"  mezuza."  On  the  outside  of  the  written  scroll,  the 
divine  name,  Shaddai, — "  the  Almighty," — is  so  in- 
scribed that  it  may  be  in  sight  through  an  opening  in 
the  case  or  cylinder.  This  name  stands  for  "  the 
Guardian  of  the  dwellings  of  Israel,"  whose  protection 
is  thus  invoked  above  the  primitive  altar  of  the  house- 
hold on  the  threshold  of  the  entrance  way.2 

"  Every  pious  Jew,  as  often  as  he  passes  the  mezuza, 
touches  the  divine  name  with  the  finger  of  his   right 

1  Comp.  Deut.  6  :  9  and  20  :  5. 
2  See  art.  "  Mezuza,"  by  Ginsburg,  in  Kitto's  Cycl.  of  Bib.  Lit. 


*]0  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

hand,  puts  it  to  his  mouth  and  kisses  it,  saying  in 
Hebrew,  '  The  Lord  shall  preserve  thy  going  out  and 
thy  coming  in,  from  this  time  forth,  and  for  evermore ; ' l 
and  when  leaving  on  a  business  expedition  he  says, 
after  touching  it,  '  In  thy  name,  kuzu  bemncJisaz  kuzn 
(=God),  I  go  out  and  shall  prosper.'"2  In  some 
cases  the  covenant  words  are  inscribed  directly  upon 
the  door-posts,  instead  of  being  written  on  parchment 
and  enclosed  in  a  case. 

On  the  lintels  of  the  ancient  synagogues  in  Pales- 
tine there  were  sculptured  symbolic  figures,  such  as 
the  paschal  lamb,  a  pot  of  manna,  a  vine,  or  a  bunch 
of  grapes,  together  with  inscriptions ;  and  the  door- 
posts were  ornamented  more  or  less  richly.3  Evi- 
dences of  this  are  still  abundant. 

Speaking  of  the  writing  over  the  door  and  all 
round  the  room  at  the  office  of  the  consul  in  Sidon, 
Dr.  Thomson  says  that  Muhammadans  "never  set  up 
a  gate,  cover  a  fountain,  build  a  bridge,  or  erect  a 
house,  without  writing  on  it  choice  sentences  from 
the  Koran,  or  from  their  best  poets.  Christians  also 
do  the  same."4  These  writings  are  deemed  a  protec- 
tion against  harm  from  evil  spirits. 

xPsa.  121  :  8. 
2  See  art.  "  Mezuza,"  by  Ginsburg,  in  Kitto's  Cycl.  of  Bib.  Lit. 
3  See,  for  example,  Memoirs  of  Survey  of  Western  Palestine,  I.,  230- 
234,  257  f.,  398-402,  407  f.,  416  f. 

4  The  Land  and  the  Book,  I.,  140  f. 


THRESHOLD  OF  A    VOYAGE.  yi 

In  Persia,  both  the  Muhammadans  and  the  Arme- 
nians inscribe  passages  from  their  sacred  books  above 
their  doorways,  with  ornamental  adornings,in  "  strange, 
fantastic  patterns."  l  The  palace  doorways  in  an- 
cient Persia  were  inscribed  and  ornamented  in  a  high 
degree.2 

At  the  present  time,  in  China,  coins  are  put  under 
the  door-sill  at  the  time  of  its  laying,  and  charms  are 
fastened  above  the  door ; 3  the  gods  of  the  threshold 
are  invoked  at  the  doorway  by  shrines  and  inscrip- 
tions, while  sentences,  as  in  ancient  Egypt,  are  writ- 
ten on  the  side-posts  and  lintel.4  At  the  festival  of 
the  fifth  month  of  the  Chinese  year,  "  charms,  con- 
sisting of  yellow  paper  of  various  sizes,  on  which  are 
printed  images  of  idols,  or  of  animals,  or  Chinese 
characters,  are  pasted  upon  the  doors  and  door-posts 
of  houses,  in  order  to  expel  evil  spirits."  In  times  of 
pestilence,  sentences  written  in  human  blood  are  fast- 
ened on  the  door-posts  for  protection  from  disease.5 

Describing  a  ceremony  on  a  large  Chinese  junk 
when  starting  out  on  a  long  voyage,  an  observer  tells 

1  See  Sir  Robert  Ker  Porter's  Travels,  I.,  440. 

2  See,  for  example,  Perrot  and  Chipiez's  Hist,  of  Art  in  Persia,  pp.  127, 

129,  294,  357;  also,  Benjamin's  Persia  and  the  Persians,  pp.  17,  58,  61. 

3  Doolittle's  Social  Life  of  the  Chinese,  II.,  75,  310  f. 

4  Williams's  Middle  Kingdom,  I.,  731. 

5  Adele  M.  Fielde's  Pagoda  Shadows,  p.  88. 


72  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

of  the  sacrifice  of  a  fowl  in  honor  of  the  divinity  called 
Loong-moo,  or  the  Dragon's  Mother.  A  temporary 
altar  was  erected  at  the  bow  of  the  vessel,  as  its  be- 
ginning, or  threshold,  and  the  blood  of  the  sacrificed 
fowl  was  shed  there.  Pieces  of  silver  paper  were 
"  sprinkled  with  the  blood  [of  the  fowl],  and  then 
fastened  to  the  door-posts  and  lintels  of  the  cabin."1 
The  cabin  door  is  the  home  door  of  the  voyager. 

Above  the  house  door  of  almost  everv  home,  in  lar^e 
portions  of  Japan,  there  is  suspended  the  shimenawa, 
or  a  thin  rope  of  rice  straw,  which  is  one  of  the  sacred 
symbols  of  ancient  Shintoism.  Above  the  doors  of 
high  Shinto  officials,  this  symbol  is  of  great  size  and 
prominence.  Its  presence  is  as  a  sign  of  a  covenant 
with  the  gods.2 

The  Greeks  certainly  recognized  the  entrance  of  the 
house  as  the  place  for  an  altar  to  the  protecting  deity. 
"  Before  each  house  stood,  usually,  its  own  peculiar 
altar  of  Apollo  Agyieus,  or  an  obelisk  rudely  repre- 
senting the  god  himself;"  and  that  over  the  house 
door,  "for  good  luck,"  or  as  a  talisman,  "an  inscrip- 
tion was  often  placed."3  And  on  occasions,  as  when 
a  bride  entered  her  husband's  house,  the  doorway  was 

1Gray's  China,  II.,  271.     Comp.  with  p.  8. 

2  Hearn's  Glimpses  of  Unfamiliar  Japan,  II.,  397;  also,  Isabella  Bird's 
Unbeaten  Tracks'in  Japan,  II.,  287. 

3  See  Becker's  Charicles,  p.  260,  with  citations ;  also,  Guhl  and  Koner's 
Life  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  p.  80. 


D  O  OR  WAY  AD  ORNINGS.  7  3 

"  ornamented  with  festive  garlands." l  Theocritus  refers 
to  a  Greek  custom  of  smearing  the  side-posts  of  the 
gateway  with  the  juice  of  magic  herbs,  as  a  method  of 
appeal  to  the  guardian  deity  to  influence  the  heart  of 
the  dweller  within  toward  the  suppliant  at  the  door.2 

Roman  householders  affixed  to  the  lintels  and  side- 
posts  of  their  doors  the  spoils  and  trophies  taken  by 
them  in  battle.  Branches,  and  wreaths  of  bay  and 
laurel,  were  hung  by  them  in  the  doorway  on  a  mar- 
riage occasion  ;  and  lamps  and  torches  were  displayed 
at  their  doors  at  other  times  of  rejoicing ;  while 
cypresses  were  shown  there  at  the  time  of  a  death.3 

Texts  of  Scripture,  and  other  inscriptions,  as  a 
means  of  invoking  a  blessing  at  the  doorway,  are  fre- 
quently found  at  the  present  time  above  the  entrance 
of  houses  in  South  Germany. 

In  Central  America  and  in  South  America  the  blood 
of  sacrificial  offerings  was  smeared  on  the  doorways  of 
houses  as  well  as  of  temples,  as  a  means  of  covenanting 
with  the  local  deities.  Illustrations  of  this  are  found 
in  the  records  and  remains  of  Peru4  and  Guatemala.5 

In  both  Europe  and  America,  the  practice  of  nail- 

1  Becker's  Charicles,  p.  487. 
2 Theocritus,  Idyl  II.,  63. 
3  See  articles  "  Ara  "  and  "Janua,"  in  Smith's  Diet,  of  Greek  and  Roman- 
Antiquities,  with  reference  to  classical  authorities. 

4  See  Reville's  Native  Religions  of  Mexico  and  Peru,  p.  183. 
5  See  Rowan  in  "  Ximenes,"  p.  183  ;  cited  in  Spencer's  Des.  Soc.,  II.,  22. 


74  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

ing  horseshoes  on  the  side-posts  of  a  doorway,  for 
"  good  luck,"  or  as  a  means  of  guarding  the  inmates 
of  the  house  from  evil,  is  very  common.  So  lately 
as  the  seventeenth  century  it  was  said :  "  Most  houses 
of  the  West  End  of  London  have  the  horseshoe  on 
the  threshold."  l  Even  at  the  threshold  of  Christian 
churches,  in  recent  years,  the  symbol  of  the  horse- 
shoe was  to  be  found  as  a  means  of  protection.2  The 
horseshoe  is  often  to  be  found  on  a  ship's  mast.  At 
the  present  time,  horseshoes  of  various  sizes,  for  use 
as  doorway  guards  against  evil,  are  found  on  sale  in 
Philadelphia,  and  other  centers  of  civilization. 

8.    SYMBOL    OF    THE    RED   HAND. 

It  would  seem  that,  in  primitive  practice,  the  hand 
of  the  covenanter  dipped  in  the  sacrificial  blood  on 
the  threshold,  and  stamped  on  the  door-posts  and 
lintel,  was  the  sign -manual  of  the  covenant  between 
the  contracting  party  or  parties,  and  God,  or  the  gods, 
invoked  in  the  sacrifice.  Illustrations  of  this  custom, 
as  still  surviving  in  the  East,  have  been  given,  from 
Constantinople,  Jerusalem,  and  Morocco.3  Naturally, 
therefore,  the  sign-manual  by  itself  came  to  stand  for, 

1  Aubrey's  "Miscellanies;"  cited  in   Gentleman's  Magazine  for  1823, 
Pt.  II.,  p.  412. 

2  See  Gentleman  s  Magazine  for  1867,  Pt.  I.,  pp.  307-322. 
8  See  p.  62  f.,  supra. 


SYMBOL  OF  THE  RED  HAND.  75 

or  to  symbolize,  the  covenant  of  the  threshold  altar ; 
and  the  stamp  of  the  red  hand  became  a  token  of  trust 
in  God  or  the  gods  covenanted  with  in  sacrifice,  and 
of  power  or  might  resulting  from  this  covenant  rela- 
tion. Wherever  the  red  hand  was  shown,  or  found, 
it  was  a  symbol  of  covenant  favor  with  Deity,  and  it 
came  to    be   known,    accordingly,  as    the  "hand    of 

might." 

In  the  region  of  ancient  Babylonia,  also,  the  red-hand 
stamp  is  still  to  be  seen  on  houses  and  on  animals, 
apparently  as  the  symbol  of  their  covenant  consecra- 
tion by  their  owner.  Dr.  Hilprecht  says  :  "  Over  all 
the  doors  of  the  rooms  in  the  large  khan  of  Hillah, 
on  the  Euphrates,  partly  built  upon  the  ruins  of  ancient 
Babylon,  I  noticed  the  red  impression  of  an  outspread 
hand,  when  I  was  there  in  January,  1889.  Several 
white  horses  in  our  caravan  from  Bagdad  to  Nippur 
had  the  stamp  of  a  red  hand  on  their  haunches." 

This  symbol  is  much  used  in  Jerusalem.  Referring 
to  its  frequency,  Major  Conder  says  :  "  The  '  hand  of 
might '  is  another  Jewish  belief  which  may  be  sup- 
posed to  have  an  Aryan  origin.  This  hand  is  drawn 
on  the  lintel  or  above  the  arch  of  the  door.  Some- 
times it  is  carved  in  relief,  and  before  one  house  in 
the  Jews'  quarter,  in  Jerusalem,  there  is  an  elabo- 
rate specimen,  carefully  sculptured  and  colored  with 
vermilion.      Small  glass  charms,  in  the  form   of  the 


/b  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

hand,  are  also  worn,  and  the  symbol  is  supposed  to 
bring  good  luck.  The  Jewish  and  Arab  masons  paint 
the  same  mark  on  houses  in  course  of  construction  ; 
and,  next  to  the  seven-branched  candlestick,  it  is 
probably  the  commonest  house-mark  in  Jerusalem."1 

A  Jerusalem  Jew  thus  tells  of  its  use  among  a  por- 
tion of  his  co-religionists  in  that  city:  "  Our  brethren 
the  Sephardeem  [the  Spanish  Jews],  like  all  the  rem- 
nant of  the  sons  of  the  East,  consider  the  semblance 
of  a  hand  as  good  against  the  power  of  the  evil  eye  in 
a  man.  And  they  draw  this  shape  upon  the  doors  of 
their  houses  with  a  red  finger.  So,  too,  they  place  upon 
the  heads  of  their  children  a  hand  wrought  in  silver, 
saying  that  this  hand — or  this  picture  of  the  five  fingers 
— is  noxious  to  the  man  who  delights  to  bring  the  evil 
upon  the  child,  or  upon  those  dwelling  in  the  house. 
So,  again,  when  men  quarrel,  the  one  sets  his  five  fin- 
gers before  the  other's  evil  eye,  saying  that  this  sign 
neutralizes  the  evil."2 

This  sign  of  the  hand  is  "  found  on  the  houses  of 
Jews,  Muslims,  and  Christians,  in  various  parts  of 
Palestine."  It  is  generally  painted  on  or  above  the 
door,  often  in  blue ;  but  frequently,  especially  when  a 
Jew  or  a  Muhammadan  enters  a  new  house,  a  lamb  is 
sacrificed  at  the  door,  and  the  stamp  of  the  hand  in 

1  Heth  and  Moab,  p.  275  f. 
2  A.  M.  Luncz,  in  Jcrushalayim,  p.  19. 


THE  HAND  OF  MIGHT.  .     77 

the  fresh  blood  is  affixed  to  the  post  or  to  the  walls.1 
No  one  claims  to  know  the  origin  of  this  symbol,  but 
all  recognize  its  importance. 

In  its  ruder  form  the  figure  of  the  hand  is  much 
like  a  five-branched  candlestick.  Indeed,  it  has  some- 
times been  mistaken  for  that  symbol.  This  was  the 
case  when  such  a  figure  was  noticed,  not  lone  aero 
by  Dr.  Noetling,  on  Jewish  houses  in  Safed,  and  re- 
ported to  a  European  journal.  This  symbol  is  some- 
times called  the  "  Hand  of  Moses."  A  similar  figure 
on  Muslim  houses  is  said  to  represent  the  "Hand  of 
the  Prophet ;  "  while  in  Syria,  among  Christians,  it  is 
called  the  Kef  Miryani,  the  "Virgin  Mary's  Hand."2 
Obviously  these  terms  suggest  the  idea  of  power 
through  divinely  derived  strength. 

One  of  the  sights  in  the  Mosk  of  St.  Sophia,  in 
Constantinople,  is  the  stamp  of  a  red  hand.  It  is  said 
that  when  Sultan  Muhammad  II.  entered  this  sanc- 
tuary as  a  conqueror,  he  dipped  his  right  hand  in  the 
blood  of  the  slaughtered  Christians,  and  stamped  it  on 
the  wall,  as  if  to  seal  his  victory,  and  to  pledge  his 
covenant  devotion  to  his  God.3  Whether  this  story 
be  fact  or  legend,  it  is  a  witness  to  the  idea  of  such 
a  custom  in  the  minds  of  Oriental  peoples. 

1  On  the  testimony  of  the  Rev.  W.  Ewing,  a  missionary  in  Palestine. 

2  In  Zeitsch?-ift  des  Deutschen  Palcestina  Vereins,  VIII.,  335  ff. 

3  See  De  Amicis's  Constantinople,  p.  185. 


7%  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

An  open  hand  is,  or  was,  a  common  symbol  on  a 
banner,  as  also  on  a  prayer-rug,  in  both  Turkey l  and 
Persia.  At  the  annual  festival  in  Persia  in  commemo- 
ration of  the  death  of  Hossein,  son  of  Alee,  two  large 
banners,  each  surmounted  with  an  open  hand,  are 
borne  in  front  of  the  representation  of  the  tomb  of 
Hossein;  and  the  same  symbol  appears  in  various 
ways  during  the  celebration.2 

"  In  the  East  Indies,  to  this  day,  the  figure  of  a 
hand  is  the  emblem  of  power  and  governmental  sway. 
When  the  Nabob  of  Arcot  was  the  viceroy  of  five 
provinces,  if  he  appeared  in  public  there  were  carried 
before  him  certain  little  banners,  each  with  a  hand 
painted  on  it,  and  a  larger  banner  with  five  hands." 3 

Siva,  the  destroyer,  in  the  Hindoo  triad,  is  also 
the  re-creator  ;  since  death  is  only  the  entrance  into 
a  new  life.  One  of  Siva's  well-known  symbols  is  a 
hand,  which  is  a  token  of  might  and  life. 

The  uplifted  open  hand  was  prominent  on  or  above 
the  doors  in  ancient  Carthage.4  And  a  traveler  in 
Northern  Africa,  writing  of  the  Jews  in  Tunis,  near 
the   site  of  Carthage,  says  :    "  What  struck  me  most 

1  One  of  these  old-time  prayer-rugs  with  the  open  hand  embroidered 
on  it,  is  in  the  possession  of  Dr.  Hilprecht. 

2  See  Morier's  Second  Journey  through  Persia,  pp.  75-184. 

3  Rosenmiiller's  Das  Alte  und  Neue  Morgetiland,  II.,  92  f. 

*See,  for  example,  Perrot  and  Chipiez's  History  of  Art  in  Phoenicia,  I., 
54.  263. 


THE  UPLIFTED  HAND.  79 

in  all  the  houses  was  the  impression  of  an  open 
bleeding  hand  on  every  wall  of  each  floor.  However 
white  the  walls,  this  repulsive  sign  was  to  be  seen 
everywhere.  A  Jewess  never  goes  out  here  without 
taking  with  her  a  hand  carved  in  coral  or  ivory — she 
thinks  it  a  talisman  against  the  i  evil  eye,'  or  '  mal 
occhio!  .  .  .  When  his  children's  pictures  or  horses 
are  praised,  the  Tunisian  Jew  extends  his  five  fingers, 
or  pronounces  the  number  'five;'  he  tries  by  this 
means  to  prevent  the  praise  doing  damage."1 

This  symbol  of  the  open  hand  is  frequently  found 
above  the  graves  in  the  vicinity  of  Tunis.  It  is  also 
seen  in  old  Jewish  cemeteries  in  Europe,  as,  for  in- 
stance, in  Prague.2 

An  open  hand,  in  stone,  or  metal,  or  enamel,  or 
bone,  used  as  a  talisman  or  an  amulet,  to  guard  the 
wearer  against  evil,  was  in  common  use  in  ancient 
Egypt.  Specimens  of  these  can  be  seen  in  museums 
in  Europe  and  America  to-day. 

It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  the  uplifted  hand  is 
prominent  in  the  representation  of  the  deities  of 
Babylonia,  Assyria,  Phenicia,  and  Egypt,  especially 
of  the  gods  of  life,  or  of  fertility,  who  have  covenant 
relations  with  men.  And  the  same  is  true  of  the 
representations  of  sovereigns,  in  the  ancient  East,  who 

1  De  Hesse-Warteg's  Tunis  :    The  Land  and  the  People,  p.  127. 
2  On  the  testimony  of  Professor  Dr.  Morris  Jastrow,  Jr. 


So  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

are  supposed  to  be  in  peculiar  covenant  relations  with 
the  gods. 

Thus,  on  the  seal  of  Ur-Gur,  the  earliest  ruler  of 
"  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,"1  the  ruler  and  his  attendants 
appear  with  uplifted  hands  before  the  moon-god  Sin, 
who  in  turn  is  represented  with  his  hand  uplifted,  as 
if  he  were  making  covenant  with  them.2  It  is  the 
same  with  the  sun-god  Shamash  and  his  worshipers.3 

When  a  king  of  ancient  Babylon  was  recognized  as 
having  a  right  to  the  throne,  he  must  lift  up  his  hand 
and  clasp  the  hand  of  the  image  of  Bel-Merodach,  in 
order  to  show  that  he  had  "  become  the  adopted  son 
of  the  true  ruler  of  the  city."  This  giving  and  taking 
of  the  hand  was  a  symbol  of  covenanting  in  Babylonia. 
In  this  way  a  child  was  adopted  into  a  family,  and  a 
husband  and  a  wife  covenanted  to  become  one.4 

The  god  Asshur,  and  his  worshipers,  kings  or 
princes,  are  similarly  represented  in  Assyria  with  the 
hand  uplifted.  And  it  is  the  same  there  with  other 
deities  and  their  worshipers.5  In  Phenicia,  and  its 
colonies,  the  same  idea  has  prominence.6 

1  Gen.  ii  :  31  ;   15  :  7. 
2  Perrot  and  Chipiez's  Hist,  of  Art  in  Chald.  and  Assy.,  I.,  38  ;  see,  also, 
p.  84.  3 Ibid.,  I.,  203. 

4  Sayce's  Social  Life  among  the  Assyrians  and  Babylonians,  p.  52  f. 

5  Perrot  and  Chipiez's  Hist,  of  Art  in  Chald.  and  Assy.,  I.,  p.  196.  See, 
also,  pp.  87,  143,  212  ;  II.,  99,  in,  169,  211,  215,  227,  231,  257,  261,  266, 
267,  273,  275,  279.     See,  also,  Collection  de  Clercq,  passim. 

6  Perrot  and  Chipiez's  Hist,  of  Art  in  Phoenicia,  I.,  53,  54,  69,  320  ;  II., 
6i,  113,  161,  228,  247,  248,  255,  257. 


SIGN  OF  A   CO  VENA  NT.  8 1 

Deities  of  ancient  Egypt  are  frequently  represented 
with  the  uplifted  hand,  and  their  accepted  worshipers 
appear  before  them  with  the  right  hand  uplifted.1  As 
showing  that  this  is  not  the  attitude  of  supplication 
or  of  adoration,  like  the  bowed  form,  the  crossed  arms, 
or  the  upturned  palms,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  in  the 
representation  of  Amenophis  IV.,  or  Khuen-aten,  with 
his  family,  before  the  aten-ra  or  the  solar  disk,  the 
worshipers  stand  with  their  right  hands  uplifted,  while 
the  sun-god  reaches  down  a  series  of  open  hands,  as 
if  in  covenant  proffer  to  the  uplifted  hands  below.2 

In  the  county  of  Roscommon,  in  Ireland,  there  is 
a  stone  known  as  "a  druidical  altar,"  which  the  com- 
mon people  say  was  thrown  there  by  the  giant  Fin- 
mac-Coole,  "the  print  of  whose  five  fingers,  they  say, 
is  to  be  seen  on  it."  The  hand-print  is  pointed  to 
confidently  as  the  proof  of  authenticity,  as  if  it  were 
the  veritable  signature  of  the  giant.3 

Among  the  ruins  in  Central  America,  there  were 
found  at  the  doorways  and  on  the  walls  of  many 
of  the  ruined  buildings  of  Yucatan  the  stamp  of 
a  red  hand  on  the  plaster  or  on  the  stone.  "  They 
were  the  prints  of  a  red  hand,  with  the  thumb 
and    fingers    extended,   not    drawn    or   painted,    but 

1  Wilkinson's  Anc.  Egypt,  III.,  3,  8,  24,  48,  53,  100,  192,  208,  218,  228, 
232,  235,  240,  362,  370,  425.  2  Ibid.,  III.,  53. 

3  Mason's  Statistical  Account  or  Parochial  Survey  of  Ireland,  II.,  322. 


82  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

stamped  by  the  living  hand,  the  pressure  of  the 
palm  upon  the  stone.  He  who  made  it  had  stood 
before  it  alive,  .  .  .  and  pressed  his  hand,  moistened 
with  red  paint,  hard  against  the  stone.  The  seams 
and  creases  of  the  palm  were  clear  and  distinct  in 
the  impression."  As  showing  the  idea  prevalent 
among  the  natives  of  that  region  with  reference  to  the 
source  and  meaning  of  these  signs-manual,  the  Indians 
of  Yucatan  said  that  the  stamp  was  of  "  the  hand 
of  the  owner  of  the  building,"  as  if  he  had  affixed  it  to 
his  dwelling  in  token  of  his  covenant  with  its  guardian 
deity  ;  and,  again,  it  was  thought  that  "  these  impres- 
sions were  placed  there  in  a  formal  act  of  conse- 
cration to  the  gods."  * 

There  is  a  clear  recognition  of  this  idea  in  many 
Bible  references  to  the  lifting  up  of  the  hands  unto 
God,  as  if  in  covenant  relations  with  him.  Thus, 
Abraham  says  to  the  king  of  Sodom,  "  I  have  lift  up 
my  hand  unto  the  Lord;"2  as  if  he  would  say,  I  have 
pledged  myself  to  him.  I  have  given  him  my  hand. 
And  the  Psalmist  says  :  "I  will  lift  up  my  hands  in 
thy  name."  3  God  himself  says,  by  his  prophet:  "  I 
will  lift  up  mine  hand  to  the  nations ; " 4  that  is,  I  will 
covenant  with  them."5     And  so  in  many  another  case. 

1  Stephens's  Incidents  of  Travel  in   Yucatan,  I.,  177  f. 

2  Gen.  14  :  22.  3  Psa.  63  :  4.  4  Isa.  49  :  22. 

5  Comp.  Exod.  6:8;  Num.  14  :  30;    Neh.  9  :  15. 


FR  OM  EA  S T  TO  WEST.  8 3 

Indeed,  the  Assyrian  word  for  swearing  (nisli)  is 
literally  "  lifting  up  the  hand ; " 1  and  the  Hebrew 
word  nasa  means  to  lift  up  the  hand  or  to  swear.2 
The  uplifted  hand  in  a  judicial  oath  seems  to  be  a 
survival  of  the  same  thought,  that  an  appeal  is  thus 
made  to  God,  as  one's  covenant  God. 

Again,  there  may  be  a  reference  to  the  "  hand  of 
might "  in  a  covenant  relation,  in  those  passages 
where  God  is  spoken  of  as  bringing  his  people  out  of 
Egypt  by  "a  strong  hand,"  or  "a  mighty  hand,"  and 
as  dealing  with  them  afterwards  in  the  same  way.3 

An  uplifted  hand  is  a  symbol  found  also  on  the 
stepped  pyramid  temples  of  Polynesia.4 

This  sign  of  the  red  hand  is  still  a  familiar  one 
among  the  aborigines  of  America.  It  is  stamped  on 
robes  and  skins,  and  on  Indian  tents.5  Schoolcraft 
says  of  it :  "  The  figure  of  the  human  hand  is  used 
by  the  North  American  Indians  to  denote  supplica- 
tion to  the  Deity  or  Great  Spirit,  and  it  stands  in  the 
system  of  picture-writing  as  the  symbol  for  strength, 
power,  or  mastery,  thus  derived  [through  a  covenant 
relation].     In  a  great  number  of  instances  which  I 

1  See  Tallquist's  Die  Sprache  Contracte  Nabu-Ntiido,  p.  108. 
2  See  Gesenius's  Heb.  Lex.,  s.  v.  ''  Nasa." 
3  See,  for  example,  Exod.  3  :  19;    13  :  3,  14,  16;    32  :  11 ;  Deut.  3  :  24  ; 
4-  34  ;  5  :  ISJ  6:  21  ;  7  :  8,  19  ;  9  :  26  ;   11:2,  etc.;  2  Chron.6  :  32  ;  Ezek. 
20  :  34;  Dan.  9  :  15. 

4  Ellis's  Polynesian  Researches,  II.,  207,  illustration. 
5  Stephens's  Incidents  of  Travels  in  Yucatan ,  II.,  46  f. 


84  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

have  met  with  of  its  being  employed,  both  in  the  cere- 
monial of  their  dances  and  in  their  pictorial  records, 
I  do  not  recollect  a  single  one  in  which  this  sacred 
character  is  not  assigned  to  it."  1 

A  frequent  use  of  the  hand-print  among  the  Ameri- 
can Indians  is  as  "a  symbol  applied  to  the  naked 
body  after  its  preparation  and  decoration  for  sacred 
and  festive  dances."  These  preparations  are  "gener- 
ally made  in  the  arcanum  of  the  medicine,  or  secret 
lodge,  or  some  private  place,  and  with  all  the  skill  of 
the  priest's,  the  medicine-man's,  or  the  juggler's  art. 
The  mode  of  applying  it  in  these  cases  is  by  smearing 
the  hand  of  the  operator  with  white  or  colored  clay, 
and  impressing  it  on  the  breast,  the  shoulder,  or  other 
part  of  the  body.  The  idea  is  thus  conveyed  that  a 
secret  influence,  a  charm,  a  mystic  power,  is  given  to 
the  dancer,  arising  from  his  sanctity,  or  his  proficiency 
in  the  occult  arts."  Schoolcraft,  speaking  of  this  cus- 
tom, says :  "  The  use  of  the  hand  is  not  confined  to  a 
single  tribe  or  people.  I  have  noticed  it  alike  among 
the  Dacotah,  the  Winnebagoes,  and  other  Western 
tribes,  as  among  the  numerous  branches  of  the  red 
race  still  located  east  of  the  Mississippi  River,  above 
the  latitude  of  420,  who  speak  dialects  of  the  Algon- 
quin language."2 

1  Stephens's  Incidents  of  Travel  in  Yucatan,  Appendix,  II.,  476-478. 
*  Ibid.,  II.,  477- 


LA  YING  ON  OF  HANDS.  85 

Is  there  possibly  any  connection  with  this  idea  in 
the  custom  of  "the  laying  on  of  hands,"  as  a  symbol 
of  imparting  virtue  or  power  to  one  newly  in  cove- 
nant relations  with  those  who  are  God's  representa- 
tives, so  frequently  referred  to  in  the  Bible  ?  l  This 
would  seem  to  be  indicated  by  the  power  imparted  to 
an  Egyptian  king  by  the  touch  of  the  uplifted  hand 
of  the  deity,  as  shown  in  the  representations  on  the 
monuments  of  Egypt.  It  was  known  as  "  the  imposi- 
tion of  the  Sa,"  or  increased  vitality.2 

A  remarkable  illustration  of  the  use  of  the  red-hand 
print  among  American  Indians  is  given  in  the  story 
of  a  famous  Omaha  chief,  who,  when  dying,  enjoined 
it  upon  his  followers  to  carry  his  body  to  a  prominent 
look-out  bluff  above  the  Missouri  River,  and  bury  him 
there,  full  armed,  on  the  back  of  his  favorite  war-horse, 
who  was  to  be  buried  alive,  that  he  might  watch  from 
that  place  the  passing  of  the  whites  up  and  down  the 
river.  It  would  seem  as  if  he  wanted  to  be  known  as 
dying  in  the  faith  of  his  covenant  relations  with  the 
Great  Spirit,  for  himself  and  for  his  people. 

Because  of  this  request,  in  the  presence  of  his  as- 
sembled tribe  "he  was  placed  astride  his  horse's  back, 

1  See  Gen.  49  :  8-17 ;  Num.  27  :  22  f. ;  Acts  4:4;  6:6;  8:18;  13:3; 
19  :  6  ;  Heb.  6  :  2 ;  1  Tim.  4  :  14. 

2  See,  for  example,  "  a  scene  in  the  hypostyle  hall  at  Luxor,"  in  Mas- 
pero's  Dawn  of  Civilization,  p.  III.;  also,  illustration  in  Perrot  and  Chi- 
piez's  Hist,  of  Art  in  Anc.  Egypt,  I.,  45. 


86  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

with  his  bow  in  his  hand,  and  his  shield  and  quiver 
slung ;  with  his  pipe  and  his  medicine  bag ;  with  his 
supply  of  dried  meat,  and  his  tobacco  pouch  replen- 
ished ;  .  .  .  with  his  flint  and  steel,  and  his  tinder,  to 
light  his  pipe  by  the  way.  The  scalps  that  he  had 
taken  .  .  .  were  hung  to  the  bridle  of  his  horse.  He 
was  in  full  dress  and  equipped;  and  on  his  head 
waved  .  .  .  his  beautiful  head-dress  of  the  war-eagle's 
plumes."  As  he  stood  thus  on  the  threshold  of  the 
life  beyond,  when  the  last  funeral  honors  were  per- 
formed by  the  medicine-men,  "  every  warrior  of  his 
band  painted  the  palm  and  fingers  of  his  right  hand 
with  vermilion,  which  was  stamped  and  perfectly  im- 
pressed on  the  milk-white  sides  of  his  devoted  horse," 
— as  if  in  covenant  pledge  of  fidelity  to  their  chief  in 
the  sight  of  the  Great  Spirit.1 

There  is  another  phase  of  the  red-hand  symbolism 
among  the  American  Indians,  which  has  been  noted 
by  Frank  H.  Cushing,  who  is  so  experienced  and 
careful  an  observer  of  their  customs  and  ceremonies. 
This  phase  connects  the  symbol  directly  with  the  idea 
of  life  and  its  transmission.     Mr.  Cushing  says  : 2 

"  By  reference  to  the  paintings  (and  writings,  to 
some  extent)  of  such  men  as  Catlin  and  Stanley,  and 

1  Catlin's  "  Eight  Years  amongst  the  North  American  Indians,"  II.,  pp. 
5-7 ;  cited  in  Donaldson's  George  Catlin  Indian  Gallery,  p.  263. 

2  In  a  personal  letter  to  the  Author. 


AMONG  AMERICAN  INDIANS.  87 

to  the  works  of  Schoolcraft,  Matthews,  Bourke,  and 
others,  you  will  find  that  the  red-hand  symbol  was 
painted  on  the  lodges,  sometimes  on  the  clothing  and 
person,  and  sometimes  on  the  shields  of  various  of  the 
hunter  tribes  of  the  plains, — as,  for  example,  of  the 
Ioways,  Sauks  and  Foxes,  Sioux,  Arickarees,  Chey- 
ennes,  Arapahos,  and  Comanches.  Precisely  what 
the  significance  of  the  symbol  was,  with  these  peoples 
and  others  like  them,  I  am  not  able  to  say,  save  that 
in  some  cases  it  was  connected  with  war,  in  others 
with  treaties,  and  in  yet  others  as  expressive  of  power. 
There  were  yet  other  meanings  attached  to  the  sign; 
but  neither  the  former  significances  nor  these  latter 
were,  I  take  it,  as  definite  or  fixed  [with  the  hunter 
tribes]  as  with  the  more  advanced  and  settled  tribes 
of  the  farther  south. 

"  Of  these  tribes,  the  typical  Pueblos  and  the  peoples 
more  or  less  directly  influenced  by  them — such  as  the 
Jicarillas  on  the  north  and  east,  and  the  Apaches  to 
the  south  and  west1 — made  frequent  use  of  not  only 
the  red-hand  symbol,  but  also  of  the  black-hand  sym- 
bol. I  have  seen  both,  not  only  in  the  modern  but 
also  in  the  very  ancient  pueblos — as  those  of  the 
Pecos,  and  those  of  the  great  cliff-dweller  towns  in 
the  Chelly  and  other  canyons.     In  the  Pecos  ruins,  to 

1  See  Bourke's  Medicine  Men  of  the  Apaches,  Ninth  Annual  Report  of 
the  Bureau  of  Ethnology. 


83  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

give  a  special  example,  I  copied  beautiful  hand-paint- 
ings and  prints  from  the  rafters,  as  well  as  from  the 
walls  of  ordinary  dwelling-rooms.  Sometimes  these 
paintings  were  in  red,  but  more  often  in  black.  They 
invariably  represented  the  hands  of  women,  as  could 
be  seen  by  their  delicacy  and  smallness  of  outline  and 
by  their  shapeliness.  There  was,  I  think,  a  reason  for 
this,  which  the  following  facts  will  explain. 

"  It  was  my  good  fortune  to  witness,  early  in  the 
eighties,  a  ceremonial  celebrating  the  attainment  to 
puberty,  or  womanhood,  of  a  young  girl  of  the  Jicarilla 
Apaches.  The  latter  people  are  not  to  be  confounded 
with  the  Apaches  proper.  They  are  a  mixed  people, 
descended  not  only  from  the  Apaches,  but  also  the 
Comanches,  and  in  large  part  also  from  the  Pueblos 
of  the  north,  the  so-called  Tafioans  of  whom  the  Pecos 
people  were  a  branch.  It  was  clear  from  the  character 
of  the  masks  and  other  paraphernalia  used  in  the 
ceremonials  I  witnessed,  that  the  latter  were  almost, 
if  not  quite,  wholly  derived  from  the  pueblo,  rather 
than  from  the  wilder,  ancestry  of  the  Jicarillas  who 
performed  them. 

"  The  ceremonial  in  question  was  performed  by  four 
medicine-men,  or  priests,  as  one  might  call  them, 
within  and  around  a  rectangular  enclosure  of  evergreen 
boughs  set  in  the  plain  near  to  the  village.  Inside  of 
this  enclosure,  which  was    designed   to    screen   from 


CELEBRATING   YOUNG   WOMANHOOD.        89 

view  the  more  secret  operations  of  the  priest  dancers 
in  question,  stood  a  little  conical  skin  lodge,  the  snow- 
white  top  of  which  appeared  above  the  screen  of  ever- 
green, and  within  which  the  young-  girl,  over  whom 
these  rites  were  being  enacted,  was  ensconced,  to- 
gether with  one  or  two  old  women  of  the  tribe.  As  I 
have  said  before,  each  of  the  priests,  on  appearing 
(and  this  they  did  successively;  that  is,  the  first  on 
the  first  day,  the  second  on  the  second  day,  and  so 
on),  wore  a  conical  mask  or  helmet,  which  entirely 
concealed,  not  only  the  face,  but  also  the  head.  This 
mask  was  painted  black  or  red,  and  upon  the  face  of 
it  appeared  one  of  these  hand  symbols.  Unfor- 
tunately, I  did  not  see  the  mask  as  worn  by  the  first 
priest,  but,  as  worn  by  the  second  priest  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  second  day,  it  bore  upon  its  face  the  sym- 
bol of  the  red  hand ;  and  as  worn  upon  the  third  day, 
this  symbol  recurred,  but,  if  I  remember  aright,  was 
surrounded  by  an  outline  of  another  color,  either  black 
or  yellow,  whilst  the  hand  painted  on  the  mask  as 
worn  on  the  fourth  day  was  black  surrounded  by 
white,  that  it  might  stand  out  more  conspicuously ; 
and  in  turn,  below  it,  were  two  or  more  dots  alter- 
nating with  dotted  circles. 

"  My  means  of  communicating  with  these  people 
were  but  limited,  but  on  learning  that  the  ceremonials 
they  were  performing  were  designed  to  celebrate  the 


90  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

attainment  to  maturity,  or  womanhood,  of  a  virgin,  I 
had  little  difficulty  in  understanding  the  significance 
of  the  succession  of  these  various  hand  symbols.  I 
recognized  in  the  ceremonial  as  a  whole  the  dramatic 
epitomization,  to  state  it  briefly,  of  the  four  ages  of  a 
woman's  life.  Thus  the  white  hand  (which  I  was  told 
had  been  painted  on  the  mask  of  the  first  day)  sym- 
bolized her  infancy  and  girlhood,  the  consummation 
of  which  was  effected  by  the  first  day's  ceremonial  per- 
formed by  the  medicine-man  of  the  white  hand. 

The  red  hand  was  obviously  significant  of  this  girl's 
attainment  to  young  womanhood,  the  color  in  this 
case  symbolizing  the  blood  of  her  perfected  life.  I 
imagine  that  the  black  hand  painted  on  the  mask 
as  worn  during  the  third  day's  ceremonial  was  sig- 
nificant of  not  only  the  betrothal  of  the  girl,  which 
was  said  to  have  taken  place  during  that  day  of  the 
ceremonial,  but  also  of  her  prospective  maternity;  the 
change  of  color,  in  the  hand,  from  red  to  black,  being 
naturally  a  symbolic  representation  of  the  change 
from  red  to  black  in  blood  that  has  been  exposed  to 
the  sunlight  and  dried,  and  has  thus  become  black, 
and  is  no  longer  virgin.  Likewise  the  hand  painted 
on  the  mask  as  worn  during  the  fourth  day's  cere- 
monial, which  was  wholly  black,  doubtless  represented 
the  fuller  life  of  not  only  a  matron  but  a  grandmother. 
From  this  I  would  infer  that  the  signs  of  the  red  and 


SIGNIFICANCE  OF  COLOR.  91 

black  hands  found  in  the  ruined  pueblos  like  those  of 
Pecos,  and  on  the  cliffs  at  the  mouths  of  caves,  or  in 
the  houses  of  the  cliff  villages,  symbolized  respectively 
virginity,  and  maternity  or  betrothal 

"What  would  seem  to  indicate  the  correctness  of 
this  conclusion  is  the  fact  that,  as  I  have  mentioned 
before,  there  were  below  the  signs  of  the  black  hand 
of  the  last  day's  ceremonial  of  the  Jicarillas  dots  and 
dotted  circles.  It  is  well  known  that  these  dots  and 
dotted  circles  represent,  primarily,  grains  of  corn,  male 
and  female  ;  and,  secondarily,  children,  male  and 
female.  Their  occurrence,  then,  below  the  painted 
black  hand  or  symbol  of  maternity,  would  indicate 
that  in  this  case  they  represented  the  children  and 
perhaps  grandchildren,  male  and  female,  of  the  matron 
it  was  hoped  this  young  girl  might  become. 

"The  hand  symbol  as  occurring  amongst  the  Zuni, 
with  whom,  of  course,  I  am  much  more  familiar,  has 
not  only  some  such  significances  as  these,  but  also 
many  others, — the  significance  of  a  given  symbol  de- 
pending upon  the  ceremonial  with  which  it  is  asso- 
ciated, and  particularly  upon  the  coloring  which  is 
given  to  it,  the  colors  being  as  various  as  are  the 
well-known  seven  sacramental  colors  employed  to 
symbolize  the  seven  regions  of  the  world  by  the 
priesthood  of  these  people. 

"  I  will  only  add,  that  the  hand  symbol  painted  upon 


92  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

the  walls  of  the  estufas,  or  Kiva  temples,  or  upon  the 
little  sacred  sand  mounds,  which  are  made  to  sym- 
bolize mythic  mountains  of  the  six  regions  during  the 
ceremonials  of  initiation  performed  once  every  four 
years  over  the  new  children  of  the  pueblo,  are  designed 
to  signify  the  various  ritualistic  precepts  which  are 
taught  to  the  children  according  as  they  are  held  to 
pertain  to  one  or  another  of  these  little  sand  mounds 
or  so-called  mountains  of  generation. 

"  In  the  case  above  described  I  was  told,  although  I 
did  net  myself  see  it,  that  the  symbol  of  the  red  hand 
was  painted  by  the  side  of  the  entrance  to  the  little 
tent  in  which  the  girl  sat  through  the  ceremonials,  and 
that  later  the  same  symbol  in  black  was  added  to  the 
other  side  of  the  entrance  to  this  tent.  In  the  case 
of  the  Pueblos  the  position  of  the  hand  symbols  de- 
pends, as,  no  doubt,  you  have  already  inferred,  upon 
the  sort  of  ceremonial  which  is  being  performed  in 
connection  with  them. 

"It  would  seem, however,  that  the  placing  of  these 
symbols  at  the  entrance  of  the  cave  villages  would 
correspond  to  such  usages  as  I  have  above  described 
as  pertaining  to  the  Jicarilla  ceremonial,  and  that  the 
painting  of  them  on  the  rafters  of  rooms  in  ancient 
pueblos  had  a  like  connection  ;  for  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  in  the  older  pueblos  there  were  no 
doorways  proper  [hence  no  thresholds].     The  rooms 


A  SIGN  MANUAL.  93 

were  entered  by  means  of  ladders  through  scuttles  in 
the  roof."  l 

A  hand-print  is  a  signature.  A  hand-print  in  blood 
is  a  pledge  of  life  in  a  sacred  covenant.  A  hand-print 
in  the  blood  of  life  is  symbolic  of  a  covenant  of  life 
with  a  view  to  the  transmission  of  life.  When  a  woman 
of  Korea  is  married,  she  affixes  her  sign  manual  to 
the  covenanting  contract  by  placing  her  hand  on 
the  paper  and  having  "the  outline  drawn  round  the 
fingers  and  wrist  with  a  fine  brush  dipped  in  Chinese 

1  Variae  nationes,  inter  quas  Americas  aborigines  sunt,  sanguinem  men- 
strualem  sacrissimum  atque  in  eo  boni  malique  vim  esse  putant,  quia  non 
solum  modo  omnis  sanguinis  vita  ipsa  sit,  sed  vitae  humanae  germina  vel 
ova  quibus  species  hominum  transmittuntur  in  se  contineat.  Quod  quam 
verum  sit  quantamque  vim  ad  foedieris  liminis  notionem  principalem  in- 
tellegendam  habeat  infra  videtur. 

For  illustrations  of  this  truth  see  H.  Floss's  Das  Weib  in  der  Natur. 
und  Volkerkunde  (2d  ed.),  I.,  chap.  39  ;  Strack's  Der  Blutaberglaubc 
(4th  ed.),  pp.  14-18;  Spivak's  Menstruation,  pp.  6-12;  and  Frazer's 
Gol'den  Bough,  I.,  170;  II.,  225-240.  These  illustrations  are  gathered 
from  Asia,  Africa,  Europe,  America,  and  the  Islands  of  the  Sea  ;  and  they 
include  citations  from  Pliny,  the  Talmud,  the  Christian  Fathers,  medieval 
writers,  and  down  to  writers  of  this  century. 

"  Apud  populum  Novas  Zelandae  creditur  sanguinem  utero  subtempus 
menstruale  effusum  continere  germina  hominis ;  et  secundum  prascepta 
veteris  superstitionis  panniculus  sanguine  menstruali  imbutus  habebatur 
sacer  {tapu),  haud  aliter  quam  si  formam  humanam  accepisset.  Mulierum 
autem  mos  est  hos  panniculos  intra  j uncos  parietum  abdere  :  et  hac  de 
causa  paries  est  domus  pars  adeo  sacra  ut  nemo  illi  innixus  sedere  audeat. 
Opinio  animis  N.  Zelandorum  insita  —  nempe  sanguinem  menstruum 
germina  humanae  speciei  continere — opinionibus  hodiernis  convenit :  multi 
enim  physiologias  scientissimi  credunt  rumpi  vesiculam  graafianam,  et  ex 
ilia,  ova  delabi  circa  tempora  menstrualia." — Shortland's  Traditions  and 
Superstitions  of  the  New  Zealanders.  p.  292. 


94  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

ink,"  or  again  she  employs  "the  simpler  process  of 
smearing  her  hand  with  black  paint,  and  hitting  the 
document  with  it.1 

Formal  documents  have  often  been  signed  by  a 
hand  stamp,  or  a  finger  stamp,  in  blood  or  in  ink. 
The  monks  of  the  convent  of  St.  Catharine  at  Mt. 
Sinai,  for  instance,  show  a  copy  of  the  certificate  of 
protection  given  to  them  by  the  Prophet  of  Islam,  the 
signature  to  which  is  an  impression  of  Muhammad's 
open  hand.  A  letter  to  Muhammad  Issoof,  from  the 
king  of  Mysore,  in  1754,  was  sealed  with  the  king's  seal, 
"  and  on  the  back  was  stamped  the  print  of  a  hand,  a 
form  equivalent,  with  the  Mysoreans,  to  an  oath."2 

The  very  term  "  sign  manual,"  employed  for  a  veri- 
table signature,  may  point  to  an  origin  in  this  custom. 
Indeed,  may  it  not  be  that  the  large  red  seal  attached 
to  important  documents,  at  the  present  time,  is  a  sur- 
vival of  the  signature  and  seal  of  the  bloody  hand? 

9.    DEITIES    OF    THE    DOORWAY. 

Originally  the  covenant  sacrifice  at  the  threshold 
was  with  the  one  God  of  life.  But  as  monotheism  de- 
generated into  polytheism,  the  idea  came  to  prevail  of 
different  deities  in  different  portions  of  the  door,  or 

1  Landor's  Corea  or  Cho-sen,  p.  ir;6. 
2Orme's  Hist,  of  Milit.  Trans,  of  British  in  fndostan,  V.,  348. 


DEITIES  OF  THE  DOORWAY.  95 

of  different  deities  in  different  districts  of  country  or 
in  different  offices  of  life. 

Each  gate  of  an  Assyrian  city  was  dedicated  to  a 
special  god,  and  named  after  it, — as  the  gate  of  Bel, 
the  gate  of  Beltis,  the  gate  of  Aim,  the  gate  of  Ishtar. 
At  the  entrance-way  of  every  gate  gigantic  winged 
bulls  with  human  heads  stood  on  guard,  accompanied 
by  winged  genii.1  And  the  central  doorway  to  the 
king's  palace  was  similarly  guarded.2  In  every  house 
a  special  deity  was  appealed  to  at  different  portions  of 
the  doorway  ;  Nergal  on  the  top  of  the  wall  and  be- 
neath the  threshold;  Ea  and  Merodach  in  the  pas- 
sage to  the  right  and  left  of  the  gate.3 

The  idea  of  an  offering,  or  of  a  dedication,  to  the 
local  divinity,  at  the  time  the  threshold  is  laid,  is  of 
wide  acceptance.  In  India,  "  the  god  Vattu,  or  Vat- 
tuma  [a  son  of  Vishnoo],  is  said  to  recline  and  live  in 
the  threshold,  changing  his  position  every  month.  .  .  . 
On  the  day  when  the  door-frame  and  threshold  of  a 
new  house  or  temple  are  fixed,  the  Vattuma  santhc 
[the  tribute  to  Vattuma]  is  offered."4 

In  China,  "  Shintu  and  Yuhlui  are  named  as  two 
tutelar  gods  to  whom  the  guardianship  of  the  house  is 
entrusted;  and  either  the  names  or  grotesque  repre- 

1  Maspero's  Life  in  Anc.  Egypt  and  Assyria,  pp.  198-200. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  204.  3  jfatmt  p   22Q 

*  Roberts's  Oriental  Illustrations  of  the  Scriptures,  p.  148  f. 


96  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

sentations  of  these  'gods  of  the  threshold '  are  at  the 
gate  of  the  house,  with  shrines  to  them  upon  the  left 
of  the  entrance  way."1 

It  is  said  of  these  "  Chinese  gods  of  the  threshold," 
that  "in  full  stature,  and  presumably  in  primeval 
strength,  they  flank  the  doors  of  monasteries  and  the 
entrances  to  the  halls  of  justice.  Much  reduced  in 
size  and  perched  high  on  shelves,  they  face  each  other 
in  the  vestibules  of  the  Chinese  home ;  and  in  their 
most  diminutive  aspect  they  become  little  images, 
occasionally  two-headed,  which  are  carried  about  the 
person  as  charms,  or  hang  from  the  eaves  of  Chinese 
houses."2 

Over  the  doors  of  almost  all  the  houses  of  Japan 
are  to  be  seen  small  prints  of  the  "  gigantic  Ni-oy  the 
Booddhist  Gog  and  Magog,"  who  are  supposed  to 
guard  the  entrance  way  of  the  holy  places.3  Private 
buildings  as  well  as  public  need  this  spiritual  pro- 
tection. 

The  inscriptions  at  the  doorways  of  the  houses  of 
ancient  Egypt  showed  that  every  building  was  "placed 
under  the  protection  of  a  tutelary  deity."  This  cus- 
tom  "  is   retained  by  the   modern  Egyptians   in  the 

1  Williams's  Middle  Kingdom,  I.,  731. 
2  See  McDowell's  "  A  New  Light  on  the  Chinese,"  in  Harper  s  Maga- 
zine for  Dec.,  1893,  with  illustration  of"  The  Gods  of  the  Threshold." 
3  Isabella  Bird's  Unbeaten  Tracks  in  Japan,  I.,  117,  273. 


TERTULLIAN' S  WARNING  TO  CHRISTIANS.  97 

protecting  genius  said  to  preside  over  the  different 
quarters  of  Cairo."  l 

Tertullian,  a  Christian  Father  who  wrote  before  the 
close  of  the  second  century,  in  warning  believers 
against  the  seducements  of  idolatry,  emphasized  the 
clustering  of  deities  at  the  doors  and  gates  in  the  re- 
ligions of  Greece  and  Rome.2  He  says  that  "among 
the  Greeks  .  .  .  we  read  of  Apollo  Thyraeus  (that  is, 
of  the  door),  and  the  Antelii  (or,  Anthelii)  demons,  as 
presiders  over  entrances;"  while  among  the  Romans 
there  are  other  "  gods  of  entrances ;  Cardea  (Hinge- 
goddess),  called  after  hinges  ;  and  Forculus  (Door- 
god)  after  doors ;  and  Limentinus  (Threshold-god) 
after  the  threshold ;  and  Janus  (Gate-god)  himself 
after  the  gate." 

Although  a  Christian  might  not  recognize  these  gods 
as  gods,  he  is  told  to  beware  lest  he  seem  to  give  them 
honor  by  adorning  his  gates  with  lamps  or  wreaths. 
"  Indeed,  a  Christian  will  not  even  dishonor  his  own 
gate  with  laurel  crowns,"  says  Tertullian,  "if  so  be  he 
knows  how  many  gods  the  devil  has  attached  to 
doors."  And  his  words  of  warning  are:  "Since  there 
are  beings  who  are  adored  in  entrances  [doorways], 
it  is  to  them  that  both  the  lamps  and  laurels  will  per- 

1  Wilkinson's  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians,  I.,  362  f., 
and  note. 

sSee  Tertullian  "On  Idolatry,"  and  "On  the  Soldier's  Chaplet,"  in 
Ante-Nicene  Christian  Library,  XL,  164  f.,  353. 

7 


9§  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

tain.  To  an  idol  you  will  have  done  whatever  you 
shall  have  done  to  an  entrance  [or  doorway]."  "  If 
you  have  renounced  [heathen]  temples,  make  not 
your  own  gate  a  [heathen]  temple."  Yet,  in  proof  of 
the  prevalence  of  this  heathen  custom  among  Chris- 
tians, Tertullian  testifies  :  "  '  Let  your  works  shine,' 
says  He  ;  but  now  all  our  shops  and  gates  shine  ! 
You  will  now-a-days  find  more  doors  of  heathens  with- 
out lamps  and  laurel-wreaths  than  of  Christians." 

In  Guatemala,  in  Central  America,  "  the  god  of 
houses  "  is  called  Chahalka ;  and  the  blood  of  sacri- 
fices to  him  is  sprinkled  on  the  door  of  the  houses  as 
an  assurance  of  his  protection.1 

It  was  much  the  same  in  the  Old  World  as  in  the 
New.  In  ancient  and  in  modern  times,  and  in  widely 
different  portions  of  the  world,  there  are  indications 
that  the  threshold  of  the  home  was  the  primitive 
altar ;  and  that  the  side-posts  and  lintel  of  the  door- 
way above  the  threshold  bore  symbols  or  inscriptions 
in  proof  of  the  sacredness  of  the  entrance  to  the  family 
home,  and  in  token  of  an  accomplished  covenant  with 
its  guardian  God,  or  gods. 

xTr.  Rowan,  in   "  Ximenes,"  p.  183;    cited  in  Spencer's  Descrip.  Soc, 
II..  22. 


II. 

EARLIEST  TEMPLE  ALTAR. 


I.    FROM    HOUSE    TO    TEMPLE. 

A  temple  is  only  a  more  prominent  house.  As  a 
house  was  the  dwelling  of  the  earlier  priest  of  his 
household,  who  was  in  covenant  for  himself  and  his 
family  with  the  guardian  deity  of  that  household; 
so,  afterwards,  a  temple  was  a  dwelling  for  the  deity 
guarding  an  aggregation  of  families,  and  for  the 
priests  who  stood  between  him  and  the  community. 

This  is  no  new  or  strange  truth;  it  is  obvious.  "In 
the  Vedas,  Yama,  as  the  first  man,  is  the  first  priest 
too;  he  brought  worship  here  below  as  well  as  life, 
and  'first  he  stretched  out  the  thread  of  sacrifice."'1 
The  fire-altar  of  the  home  was  first  the  center  of  wor- 
ship in  the  family  in  India;2  as  later  the  fire-altar  was 
the  center  of  the  worship  of  the  community. 

The  same  cuneiform   characters    in  old  Babylonian 

1  Darmesteter's  translation  of  Zend  Avesta,  in  "  Sacred   Books  of  the 
East,"  IV.,  12,  note. 

2  De  Coulange's  Ancient  City,  pp.  32-35,  46  f. 

99 


IOO  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

stand  for  great  house,  for  palace,  and  for  temple;1 
as  similiarly,  in  ancient  Egypt,  the  same  hieroglyph 
represented  house  or  temple, — a  simple  quadrangular 
enclosure,  with  its  one  doorway.2 

The  oldest  form  of  an  Egyptian  temple  known 
to  us  through  the  inscriptions  of  the  Ancient  Empire 
indicates  that  the  prehistoric  houses  of  worship  in 
that  land  were  mere  hovels  of  wood  and  lattice-work, 
over  the  doors  of  which  was  a  barbaric  ornamenta- 
tion of  bent  pieces  of  wood.3  The  private  house  be- 
came the  public  temple. 

"The  design  of  the  Greek  temple  in  its  highest 
perfection  was  ...  a  gradual  development  of  the 
dwelling-house."4  Palace  and  temple  were,  indeed, 
often  identical  in  ancient  Greece.5 

Strictly  speaking,  there  were  no  temples  in  ancient 
Persia,  any  more  than  in  early  India.  But  the  fire- 
altars  that  were  first  on  the  home  hearth,  or  threshold, 
were  made  more  and  more  prominent  on  their  uplifted 
stepped  bases,  until  they  towered  loftily  in  the  sight 
of  their  worshipers.6 

1  Compare  Friedrich  Delitzsch's  Assyrisches  Handworterbuch,  s.  v. 
"  Ekallu." 

2  Wilkinson's  Egyptians  in  the  Times  of  the  Pharaohs,  p.  141. 

3  Erman's  Life  in  Ancient  Egypt,  p.  279  f. 

*  Guhl  and  Koner's  Life  of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  p.  297. 

5  See,  for  example,  Odyssey,  VII.,  80. 
6  Perrot  and  Chipiez's  Hist,  of  Art  in  Persia,  pp.  240-254. 


FROM  HOUSE  TO  TEMPLE.  IOI 

It  is  the  same  Hebrew  word,  oliel,  that  stands  for  the 
"  tent  "  of  Abraham,  and  for  the  "  Tent  "  or  Taber- 
nacle of  the  congregation  of  Israel.1 

In  China  "  temple  architecture  differs  little  from 
that  of  the  houses." 2  The  house  of  a  god  is  as  the 
house  of  a  man,  only  grander  and  more  richly  orna- 
mented. And  Japanese  antiquaries  say  that  the 
architecture  of  Shinto  temples  is  on  the  model  of  the 
primeval  Japanese  hut.  The  temples  of  Ise,  the  most 
sacred  of  the  Shinto  sanctuaries,  are  said  to  represent 
this  primitive  architecture  in  its  purest  form.3 

The  father  of  the  family  was  the  primitive  priest  in 
the  Samoan  Islands,  and  his  house  was  the  first  place 
of  worship.  Then  "the  great  house  of  the  village," 
or  the  place  of  popular  assembling,  was  used  as  a 
temple ;  and  afterwards  there  were  special  temple 
structures  with  attendant  priests.4 

The  transition  from  house  to  temple  seems  to  have 
been  a  gradual  one  in  the  primitive  world.  The 
fire-altar  of  the  family  came  to  be  the  fire-altar  of  the 
community  of  families.  The  house  of  a  king  became 
both  palace  and  temple,  and  so  again  the  house  of  a 

1  Comp.  Gen.  18  :  1-9,  and  Exod.  26  :  1-14 ;  39  :  32,  etc. 
2  Douglas's  Society  in  China,  p.  343. 
3  See  Chamberlain's  Things  Japanese, -pp.  37,  226  f.,378  ;  Griffis's  Mika- 
do's Empire,  p.  90;   Isabella  Bird's  Unbeaten  Tracks  in  Japan,  II.,  282. 
4  Turner's  Samoa,  pp.  1S-20. 


102  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

priest;    for  the  offices   of  king  and   of  priest  were  in 
early  times  claimed  by  the  same  person.1 


2.    SACREDNESS    OF    THE    DOOR. 

In  all  stages  of  the  transition  from  house  to  temple, 
the  sacredness  of  the  threshold,  of  the  door,  of  the 
entrance-way,  of  the  gate,  was  recognized  in  archi- 
tecture and  in  ceremonial.  Often  the  door,  or  the 
gate,  stood  for  the  temple,  and  frequently  the  thresh- 
old was  an  altar,  or  an  altar  was  at  the  threshold. 

There  are,  indeed,  reasons  for  supposing  that  the 
very  earliest  form  of  a  primitive  temple,  or  sanctuary, 
or  place  of  worship,  was  a  rude  doorway,  as  cover- 
ing or  as  localizing  the  threshold  altar.  This  would 
seem  to  be  indicated  by  prehistoric  remains  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  world,  as  well  as  in  the  later  develop- 
ment of  the  idea  in  the  earlier  historic  ages.  The 
only  exception  to  this  was  where,  as  in  India  or  Persia, 
the  fire-altar  on  an  uplifted  threshold  stood  alone  as 
a  place  of  worship. 

Two  upright  stone  posts,  with  or  without  an  over- 
laying stone  across  them,  and  with  or  without  an 
altar  stone  between  or  before  them,  are  among  the 
most  ancient  remains  of  primitive  man's  handiwork  ; 
and  a  similar  design  is  to  be  recognized,  all  the  way 

iMaspero's  Dawn  of  Civilization,  p.  703  f. 


SACRED  NESS  OF  THE  DOOR.  103 

along  in  the  course  of  history,  down  to  the  elaborate 
doorway  standing  by  itself  as  a  memorial  of  the 
revered  dead,1  or  to  the  monumental  triumphal  arch 
as  an  accompaniment  of  the  highest  civilization. 
And  the  very  name  of  door,  or  gate,  attaches  per- 
sistently to  the  loftiest  temple  and  to  the  most  exalted 
personage.  As  the  earliest  altar  was  the  threshold, 
the  earliest  temple  was  a  doorway  above  the  altar  at 
the  threshold. 

When  the  first  dwellers  on  the  plains  of  Chaldea, 
after  the  Deluge,  gathered  themselves  for  the  build- 
ing of  a  common  structure  reaching  God-ward,2  they, 
in  their  phraseology,  called  that  structure  Bab-el,  or 
Bab-ilu,  or  Babi-ilu,  the  Door  of  God.3  Ancient 
Egyptians  called  the  sovereign  head  of  their  national 
family  " Per-ao"  (Pharaoh),  the  exalted  House,  or 
Gate,  or  Door;4  as  to-day  the  Sultan,  who  is  spiritual 
father  of  the  faithful  Muhammadans,  and  autocrat  of 
his  realm,  is  widely  known  as  the  "  Sublime  Porte," 
or  the  Exalted  Door.5     The  modern  Babists,  in  Persia 

1  See  Fergusson's  Rude  Stone  Monuments,  pp.  100,  411-413. 

2  Gen.  11  :  1-9. 

2  See  Miihlau  and  Volck's  Gesenius's  Heb.  und  Aram.  Handworterbuch 
(12th  ed.),  s.  v.  "  Babel ;  "  also  Schrader,  in  Richon's  Diet,  of  Bib.  Antiq. 
(2d  ed.). 

4  See  Brugsch's  Egypt  under  the  Pharaohs,  I.,  63;  also,  Erman's  Life 
in  Ancient  Egypt,  p.  58. 

5  See  Perrot  and  Chipiez's  History  of  Art  in  dial,  and  Assy.,  II.,  72. 


104  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

and  beyond,  look  up  to  their  spiritual  head  as  the 
"  Bab,"  or  the  "  Door." l  "  Throughout  the  East 
this  word    ['Bab']    signifies   the    court  of  a  prince 

[as  a    ruler  by  divine   right] The  threshold   of 

the  gate  is  used  in  the  same  sense,  and  frequently  it 
is  qualified  by  some  epithet  of  nobility,  loftiness,  or 
goodness."  2 

Jesus  Christ  did  not  hesitate  to  say  of  himself  as 
the  Way  to  God  :  '  I  am  the  Door:  by  me  if  any  man 
enter  in  he  shall  be  saved."  3 

In  China,  Japan,  Korea,  Siam,  and  India,  a  gate,  or 
doorway,  usually  stands  before  Confucian  and  Bood- 
dhist  and  Shinto  temples,  but  apart  from  the  temple, 
and  always  recognized  as  of  peculiar  sacredness. 
These  doorways,  in  many  places,  are  painted  blood- 
color.4  They  stand  "  at  the  entrance  of  temple 
grounds,  in  front  of  shrines  and  sacred  trees,  and  in 
every  place  associated  with  the  native  kami"—ox 
gods.5     Yet,  again,  in  all  these  countries,  the  temple 

1  See  Count  de  Gobineau's  Les  Religions  et  les  Philosophies  dans  V Asia 
Centrale;  also  Browne's  Year  among  the  Persians,  and  Traveller's  Nar- 
rative to  Illustrate  the  Episode  of  the  Bab. 

2  Dibliotheque  Orientate,  s.  v.  "  Bab."  3  john  1Q 

4  See,  for  example,  Griffis's  Mikado's  Empire,  p.  419;  Isabella  Bird's 
Unbeaten  Tracks  in  Japan,  I  ,  295  f .  ;  II.,  367  f . ;  Gray's  China,  I.,  90; 
Fergusson's  Rude  Stone  Monuments,  p.  413. 

5  See  Chamberlain's  Things  Japanese,  p.  429  f. ;  and,  Lowell's  Choson, 
pp.  262-266,  for  a  fuller  explanation  of  the  origin  and  signification  of  this 
primitive  entrance  way. 


DOOR  WA  Y  SHRINES.  1 05 

gateway  is  a  main  feature,  or  a  prominent  one,  in  the 
chief  sanctuaries.1 

Swinging  doors,  or  gates,  are  represented,  in  the 
religious  symbolism  of  ancient  Babylonia,  as  opening 
to  permit  the  god  Shamash,  or  the  sun,  to  start  out  on 
his  daily  circuit  of  the  heavens.2  A  door,  or  a  door- 
way, appears  as  a  shrine  for  a  god  in  various  cylin- 
ders from  this  region  ;  and  the  god  is  shown  standing 
within  it,  just  beyond  the  threshold.3  Indeed,  the 
doorway  shrine  is  a  common  form  on  the  Babylonian 
and  the  Assyrian  monuments,  as  a  standing-place  for 
the  gods,  and  for  the  kings  as  representative  of  the 
gods.4  Illustrations  of  this  are  found  on  the  Balawat 
gates,5  and  the  sculptures  on  the  rocks  at  Nahr-el- 
Kelb 6 — which  is  itself  a  gateway  of  the  nations,  be- 
tween the  mountains  and  the  sea,  on  the  route  between 
Egypt  and  Canaan,  and  both  the  East  and  the  West. 

1  See,  for  example,  Douglas's  Society  in  China,  p.  411;  Isabella  Bird's 
Unbeaten  Tracks  in  Japan,  I.,  64;  Fergusson's  Tree  and  Serpent  Wor- 
ship, frontispiece,  plates  iv-ix,  xxi. 

2  See  Maspero's  Dawn  of  Civilization,  p.  656. 
3  Ibid,  p.  569.     The  doorway  in  the  engraving  from  the  intaglio  is  clearly 
one  of  the  doorway  shrines,  with  the  guardians  of  the  doorway  on  either 
side,  and  not,  as  has  been  supposed,  an  opening  into  the  ark. 

*  Maspero's  Dawn  of  Civilization,  pp.  657,  662,  759,  762  ;  also  Perrot 
and  Chipiez's  Hist,  of  Art  in  Chal.  and  Assy.,  I.,  203,  212;  II.  95,  163, 
210,  211. 

5  Ibid.,  II.,  facing  p.  212. 

6  Perrot  and  Chipiez's  Hist,  of  Art  in  Chal.  and  Assy.,  II.,  231;  Perrot 
and  Chipiez's  Hist,  of  Art  in  Phoenicia  and  Cyprus,  I.,  9.  See,  also,  note 
in  Rawlinson's  Herodotus,  II.,  pp.  148-151. 


106  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

In  ancient  Egypt  the  doorway  shrine  of  the  gods 
was  prominent,  as  in  Babylonia.1  Moreover,  a  false 
door  was  represented  in  the  earlier  mastabahs,  or 
tombs,  of  the  Old  Empire  of  Egypt.  This  represen- 
tation of  a  door  was  toward  the  west,  in  which  di- 
rection Osiris,  the  god  of  the  under-world,  was  sup- 
posed to  enter  his  realm  as  the  sun  went  down.  On 
or  around  this  false  door  were  memorial  inscriptions, 
and  prayers  for  the  dead ;  and  before  it  was  a  table, 
or  altar,  for  offerings  to  the  ka,  or  soul,  of  the  dead.2 
Gradually  this  false  door  came  to  be  recognized  as 
the  monumental  slab,  tablet,  or  stele,  on  which  were 
inscribed  the  memorials  of  the  deceased.  As  a  door- 
way or  a  niche,  square-topped,  or  arched,  it  was  the 
shrine  of  the  one  worshiped  ;  and  as  a  panel,  or  inde- 
pendent stele,  it  was  the  place  of  record  of  the  object 
of  reverence. 

"  Even  at  the  beginning  of  the  Middle  Empire  the 
door  form  disappeared  completely,  and  the  whole 
space  of  the  stone  was  taken  up  with  the  represen- 
tation of  the  deceased  sitting  before  a  table  of  offerings, 
receiving  gifts  from  his  relatives  and  servants.  Soon 
afterwards  it  became  the  custom  to  round  off  the  stone 


1  Wilkinson's  Anc.  Egypt,  III.,  349;  Erman's  Life  in  Anc.  Egypt,  pp. 
274,  283 ;  and  Maspero's  Dawn  of  Civilization,  pp.  189,  239. 

2  Erman's  Life  in  Anc.  Egypt,  p.  311  ;   Maspero's  Dawn  of  Civilization, 
pp.  237,  250,  253,  262,  316,  413. 


D  O  OR-FORM  MEMORIALS.  I  oy 

at  the  top,  and  when,  under  the  New  Empire,  pictures 
of  a  purely  religious  character  took  the  place  of  the 
former  representations,  no  one  looking  at  the  tomb 
stele  could  have  guessed  that  it  originated  from  the 
false  door."  * 

A  "  false  door  "  was,  in  ancient  Egypt,  a  valued  gift 
from  a  sovereign  to  an  honored  subject.  Doors  of 
this  kind  were  sometimes  richly  carved  and  painted, 
and  were  deemed  of  priceless  value  by  the  recipient.2 

In  Phenicia,3  Carthage,4  Cyprus,5  Sardinia,6  Sicily,7 
and  in  Abyssinia,8  a  like  prominence  was  given  to  the 
door  as  a  door,  in  temple  and  in  tomb,  and  as  a  niche 
for  the  figure  of  a  deity  or  for  the  representation  of 
one  who  had  crossed  the  threshold  of  the  new  life. 
And  the  door-form  is  a  sacred  memorial  of  the  dead 
in  primitive  lands  in  various  parts  of  the  world,  from 
the  rudest  trilithon  to  the  more  finished  structures  of 
a  high  civilization.9 

In  primitive  New  Zealand  the  gateway,  or  doorway, 
of  a  village,  a  cemetery,  or  a  public  building,  is  both 

1  Erman's  Life  in  Anc.  Egypt,  p.  314.     See,  also,  illustrations  in  Perrot 
and  Chipiez's  Hist  of  Art.  in  Anc.  Egypt,  I.,  131,  140,  175. 
2  Erman's  Life  in  Anc.  Egypt,  p.  319. 

3  Perrot  and  Chipiez's  Hist,  of  Art  in  Phoenicia  and  Cyprus,  I.,  256  ;   II., 
31,  57,  147,  178. 

*  Ibid.,  I.,  S3,  34.         5  mdt  L|  287  .  ILi  I47  6  Bid    j     2g4)  32i 

7  Ibid.,  I.,  320.         §  Bent's  Sacred  City  of  the  Ethiopians,  pp.  185-193. 

9  See,  for  example,  Fergusson's  Rude  Stone  Monuments,  pp.  100,  168  f., 
217,  233,  335,  337,  344,  385,  388,  398-401,  411-413,  441,  464,  468,  484,  532. 


108  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

a  sacred  image  and  a  sacred  passage-way.  It  is  in  the 
form  of  a  superhuman  personage,  and  it  has  its  guar- 
dians on  either  hand.1 

A  doorway  with  an  altar  between  its  posts  was  a 
symbol  of  religious  worship  in  ancient  Mexico,  as  in 
the  far  East.2 

It  would  seem  that  the  "  mihrab,"  or  prayer  niche, 
pointing  toward  Meccah,  in  Muhammadan  lands,  and 
the  Chinese  honorary  portals  and  ancestral  tablets,3  as 
well  as  the  niches  for  images  of  saints  in  churches  or 
at  wayside  shrines,  or  for  heroes  in  public  halls,  in 
Christian  lands,  are  a  survival  of  the  primitive  door- 
way in  a  tomb. 

And  wherever  the  door  is  prominent  as  a  door,  the 
threshold  is  recognized  and  honored  as  the  floor  of 
the  door,  and  as  the  primitive  altar  above  which  the 
door  is  erected.  To  pass  through  the  door  is  to  cross 
over  the  threshold  of  the  door. 

3.    TEMPLE    THRESHOLDS    IN    ASIA. 

In  all  the  modern  excavations  in  the  region  of 
Babylonia  and  Assyria,  including  Tello,  Nippur,  Sip- 
para,  Borsippa,  Khorsabad,  and  Nineveh,  it  has  been 

1  See  illustrations  in  Sherrin's  Early  History  of  New  Zealand,  pp.  406, 
514.  648.  2  Bancroft's  Native  Races,  IV.,  481. 

3  See,  for  example,  Williams's  Middle  Kingdom,  I.,  frontispiece  ;  Gray's 
China,  I.,  11  f. 


THRESHOLD   TERAPHIM.  1 09 

found  that  the  threshold,  or  foundation-stone,  of  the 
temple  doorway  is  marked  with  inscriptions  that  show 
its  peculiar  sanctity ;  while  underneath  it,  or  near  it, 
are  frequently  buried  images  and  symbols  and  other 
treasures  in  evidence  of  its  altar-like  sacredness.  On 
this  point  evidence  has  been  furnished  by  Botta,1 
Bonomi,2  Layard,3  George  Smith,4  Lenormant,5  and 
yet  more  fully  by  Dr.  Hilprecht,  in  his  later  and  cur- 
rent researches. 

Bonomi  suggests  that  the  word  "  teraphim,"  as 
an  image  of  a  household  divinity,  has  its  connection 
with  the  threshold  or  the  boundary  limit ;  and  that  the 
phrase  "thy  going  out,  and  thy  coming  in,"  which  is 
common  in  Egyptian,  Babylonian,  and  Hebrew6  litera- 
ture, has  reference  to  the  threshold  and  its  protect- 
ing deities.7  The  outgoing  and  the  incoming  are 
clearly  across  the  threshold  and  through  the  door. 

The  inscriptions  of  Nebuchadrezzar  II.,  concerning 
his  building  of  the  walls  of  Babylon,  comprise  various 
references  to  the  foundations,  to  the  thresholds,  and 
to  their  guardians.     He  says  :  "  On  the  thresholds  of 

1  See  citation  in  Bonomi's  Nineveh  and  its  Palaces  (2d  ed.),  pp. 
157-160,  174.  2  Ibid- 

3  Nineveh  and  its  Remains  (Am.  ed.),  II.,  202. 

4 Assyrian  Discoveries,  pp.  75, 78 ,  429.       5 Chaldean  Magic,  pp.  47,  48 ,  54. 
«  See,  for  example,  1  Sam.  29  :  6 ;   2  Sam.  3  :  25 ;  2  Kings  19 :  27;   Psa. 
121  :  7,  8  ;   Isa.  37  :  28  ;  Ezek.  43  :  11. 

7  See  references  to  the  Mezuza  of  the  Hebrews  at  page  69  f.,  supra. 


IIO  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

the  gates  I  set  up  mighty  bulls  of  bronze,  and  mighty 
snakes  standing  upright."  '  Again  of  the  gates  of 
Imgur-Bel  and  Nimitti-Bel,  of  these  walls  of  Babylon, 
he  says :  "  Their  foundations  I  laid  at  the  surface 
(down  at)  the  water,  with  pitch  and  bricks.  With 
blue  enameled  tiles  which  were  adorned  with  bulls 
and  large  snakes,  I  built  their  interior  cleverly.  Strong 
cedars  I  laid  over  them  as  their  covering  (or  roof). 
Doors  of  cedarwood  with  a  covering  of  copper,  a 
threshold  (ash/ppu)  and  hinges  of  bronze,  I  set  up 
in  their  gates.  Strong  bulls  of  bronze,  and  powerful 
snakes  standing  upright,  I  set  upon  (or  at)  their  thresh- 
old (sippii).  Those  gates  I  filled  with  splendor  for 
the  astonishment  of  all  mankind."2 

In  a  similar  manner  Nebuchadrezzar  describes  his 
work  at  the  gates  of  "  the  royal  castle  of  all  man- 
kind," at  Babylon,3  and  of  his  palace.4  In  connection 
with  the  shrine  or  chapel  of  Nebo  (Ezida),  within  the 
walls  of  the  temple  of  Merodach,  in  Babylon,  he  says : 
"  Its  threshold  {sippii),  its  lock  and  its  key,  I  plated 
with  gold,  and  made  the  temple  shine  daylike."5  When 
he  built   Ezida  (the  "  eternal  house  "),  the  temple  of 

1  Grotefend  Cylinder,  Col.  I.,   11.  44-46.     See,  also,  Rawlinson's  Cunei- 
form Inscriptions  of  Western  Asia,  Vol.  I.,  p.  65,  Col.  I.,  11.  19-21. 

2  East  India  House  Inscription,  Col.  III.,  11.  48-50. 

3  Ibid.,  Col.  VIII.,  11.  5-9.  4  Ibid.,  Col.  IX.,  11.  9-16. 

5  Grotefend  Cylinder,  Col.  I.,  11.  36-38. 


STEPPED  PYRAMID   TEMPLES.  Ill 

Borsippa,  Nebuchadrezzar  says  :  "  The  bulls  and  the 
doors  of  the  gate  of  the  sanctuary,  the  threshold 
(sippn),  the  lock,  the  hinge,  I  plated  with  zariru "  x 
(an  unknown  metal,  a  kind  of  bronze). 

References  to  the  foundations,  to  the  thresholds,  to 
the  gates  and  doorways,  and  to  bulls  and  upright 
serpents,  as  the  guardians  of  the  threshold  of  the  tem- 
ples and  palaces  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria,  are  numer- 
ous on  unearthed  cylinders  and  tablets,  and  always  in 
such  a  way  as  to  indicate  their  peculiar  sacredness. 
In  the  recent  unearthing,  at  Nippur,  of  a  small  build- 
ing or  shrine,  between  two  great  temples,  an  altar  was 
found  in  the  eastern  doorway. 

It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  many  early  temples 
in  Babylonia,  as  in  Mesopotamia,  in  Egypt,  in  Mexico, 
Central  America,  and  Peru,  and  in  the  South  Sea 
Islands,  were  in  the  form  of  a  stepped  pyramid,  or  a 
staged  tower,  with  either  inclined  planes  or  stairways 
from  each  lower  stage  to  the  next  higher,  and  with 
an  altar,  or  a  sanctuary  or  shrine,  at  the  summit. 2 
Herodotus,  describing  one  of  these  temples  in  Babylon, 

1  East  India  House  Inscr.,  col.  II.,  11.  48-50. 
2  See  Layard's  Nineveh  and  Babylon  (Am.  ed.),  p.  424;  Perrot  and 
Chipiez's  Hist,  of  Art  in  Chald.  and  Assy.,  I.,  366-392;  Rawlinson's 
Herodotus,  Bk.  II.,  Chap.  99, 125  ;  Sayce's  Religion  of  the  Ancient  Babylo- 
nians, p.  96 ;  Mariette  Bey's  Monume?its  of  Upper  Egypt,  p.  79  f. ;  Bun- 
sen's  Egypt's  Place  in  Universal  History,  II.,  378-386;  Rawlinson's 
History  of  Ancient  Egypt,  I.,  188-194;  Reville's  Religions  of  Mexico  and 
Peru,  pp.  41  f.,  179  f. ;  Ellis's  Polynesian  Researches,  II.,  207. 


112  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

says  that  the  altars,  larger  and  smaller,  were  outside 
the  temple.1 

Light  is  thrown  on  the  dream  of  Jacob  at  Bethel  by 
the  shape  of  the  ancient  temple  in  the  East.  In  his 
vision  it  was  probably  not  a  ladder,  but  a  conventional 
stepped -temple  structure,  with  its  stairways  rising 
heavenward,  and  its  sanctuary,  that  Jacob  saw.2  The 
angel  ministers  were  passing  up  and  down  the  steps, 
in  the  service  of  the  Most  High  God,  who  himself 
appeared  above  the  structure.  When  Jacob  waked 
he  said  :  "  Surely  the  Lord  is  in  this  place  [or  sanc- 
tuary] ;  and  I  knew  it  not.  .  .  .  How  dreadful  is  this 
place  !  this  is  none  other  but  the  house  of  God,  and 
this  is  the  gate  of  heaven ;  "  and  he  took  the  stone 
which  had  been  his  pillow  at  the  threshold  of  that 
sanctuary,  and  set  it  up  for  an  altar  pillar.3 

In  the  literature  and  legends  of  Babylonia,  as  of 
other  portions  of  the  ancient  world,  there  is  prominent 
the  idea  that  an  entrance  into  the  life  beyond  this,  as  in 
the  entrance  into  this  life,  the  crossing  of  a  threshold 
from  the  one  world  to  the  other,  from  the  earlier  state 
and  the  passing  of  a  door,  or  gate,  marks  the  change 

1  Rawlinson's  Herodotus,  Bk.  I.,  Chap.  181-183. 

2  The  word  "  sullam?'  here  translated  "  ladder,"  is  a  derivative  from 
"  salal^  "  to  raise  up  in  a  pile,  to  exalt  by  heaping  up  as  in  the  construc- 
tion of  a  mound  or  highway."  Comp.  Isa.  57  :  14;  62  :  10;  Jer.  50  :  26. 
See  Hush's  Notes  on  Genesis,  in  loco. 

3  Gen.  28  :  10-22. 


FOUNTAIN  OF  ALLA  T.  1 13 

to  the  later,  from  the  sacred  to  the  more  sacred. 
This  is  peculiarly  illustrated  in  the  famous  legend  of 
Ishtar's  descent  into  the  under-world  in  order  to  bring 
back  to  earth  her  lover  Dumuzi. 

The  Hades  of  the  Babylonians  was  surrounded  by 
seven  high  walls,  and  was  approached  through  seven 
gates,  each  of  which  was  guarded  by  a  pitiless  warder. 
Two  deities  ruled  within  it — Nergal,  "  the  lord  of  the 
great  city,"  and  Beltis-Allat,  "  the  lady  of  the  great 
land," — whither  everything  which  had  breathed  in  this 
world  descended  after  death.  Allat  was  the  actual 
sovereign  of  the  country ;  and  even  the  gods  them- 
selves could  enter  her  realm  only  on  the  condition  of 
submitting  to  death,  like  mortals,  and  of  humbly 
avowing  themselves  her  slaves.1  "  The  threshold  of 
Allat's  palace  stood  upon  a  spring,  which  had  the 
property  of  restoring  to  life  all  who  bathed  in  it  or 
drank  of  its  waters."  Yet  it  was  needful  that  another 
life  should  be  given  for  one  who  would  be  reborn  into 
this  life,  after  crossing  the  threshold  of  the  regions 
beyond.2 

In  the  descent  of  the  goddess  Ishtar  into  Allat's 
realm,  in  pursuit  of  her  lover  Dumuzi,  Ishtar  was 
gradually  stripped  of  her  garments  and  adornings  at 

1  See  Maspero's  Dawn  of  Civilization,  pp.  691-696,  with  citation  of 
authorities  at  foot  of  p.  693,  and  note  at  p.  695. 

2  Ibid.;  also,  Sayce's  Relig.  of  the  Anc.  Baby  I.,  pp.  221-278;   286,  note  3. 

8 


114  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

the  successive  gates,  until  she  appeared  naked,  as  at 
birth,  at  the  final  threshold  of  the  new  state.1  But  she 
was  held  captive  by  Allat  until  Ea,  chief  among  the 
gods,  exerted  himself  in  her  behalf,  and  sent  his  mes- 
senger to  secure  for  both  Ishtar  and  Dumuzi  the 
waters  of  life  which  were  underneath  the  threshold 
of  Allat's  realm, — which  must  be  broken  in  order  to 
their  outflowing.2 

There  would  seem  to  be  a  reference  to  this  primi- 
tive idea  of  the  waters  of  life  flowing  from  under  the 
threshold  of  the  temple,  in  the  vision  of  the  prophet 
Ezekiel,  writing  in  Babylonia,  concerning  restored 
Jerusalem  and  its  holy  temple.  "  Behold,  waters 
issued  out  from  under  the  threshold  of  the  house  east- 
ward, for  the  forefront  of  the  house  was  toward  the 
east :  and  the  waters  came  down  from  under,  from  the 
right  side  of  the  house,  on  the  south  of  the  altar." 
(Evidently  the  altar  in  this  temple  was  near  the  thresh- 
old.) These  flowing  waters  from  under  the  threshold 
were  life-giving.  "  Upon  the  bank  of  the  river,"  as  it 
swelled  in  its  progress,  "  were  very  many  trees  on  the 
one  side  and  on  the  other ;  "  and  it  was  said  of  this 
stream  :  "  It  shall  come  to  pass,  that  every  living  crea- 
ture which  swarmeth,  in  every  place  whither  the  rivers 
come,  shall  live  ;  and  there  shall  be  a  very  great  multi- 

1  Comp.  Job  i  :  21 ;  Eccl.  5:15;  1  Tim.  6  :  7. 
2  Maspero's  Dawn  of  Civilization,  p.  696. 


WA  TERS  OF  LIFE.  1 1 5 

tude  of  fish  :  for  these  waters  are  come  thither, . . .  and 
every  thing  shall  live  whithersoever  the  river  cometh."  x 
In  a  curse  pronounced  against  Assyria  by  the  prophet 
Zephaniah,  it  was  declared  that  "drought  shall  be  in 
the  thresholds,"  2  instead  of  life-giving  waters. 

So,  again,  the  waters  of  the  life-giving  Jordan  flow 
out  from  the  threshold  of  the  grotto  of  Pan,  a  god 
of  life.3  And  both  at  the  beginning  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, and  at  the  close  of  the  New,  the  waters  of  life 
start  from  the  sanctuary  of  the  Author  of  life.4 

This  Dumuzi  of  Babylonia  has  linkings  with  Tam- 
muz  of  Syria,  with  Osiris  of  Egypt,  and  with  Adonis 
of  Greece,  and  there  are  correspondences  in  all  these 
legends  in  the  references  to  the  door  and  the  threshold 
of  the  under-world  and  the  life  beyond.  Thus,  for 
instance,  the  Lord's  prophet  counts  as  most  heinous 
of  all  idolatries  the  transfer  of  the  weeping  worship  of 
Tammuz  from  the  door  in  the  hole  of  the  temple  wall 
to  the  door  of  the  temple  sanctuary.5 

At  the  right  hand  of  the  entrance  of  the  larger 
temple  unearthed  at  Nineveh  by  Layard,  a  sculp- 
tured image  of  the  Assyrian  king,  with  his  arm  up- 
lifted, was  on  a  doorway  stele  just  outside.  And  an 
altar  for  offerings  was  in  front  of  that  image.    Altars 

1  Ezek.  47  :  1-9.  2  Zeph.  2  :  13,  14,  with  margin. 

3  See  Survey  of  Western  Palestine,  "  Memoirs,"  I.,  107. 
4  See  Gen.  2  :  8-10  ;   Rev.  22  :  1,  2.  5  Ezek.  8  :  8-16. 


HO  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

were  found  similarly  situated,  just  outside  the  door- 
way, in  a  smaller  temple  in  the  same  region.1 

An  exceptional  reverence  is  shown  to  the  doorway 
and  threshold  of  their  sanctuary,  or  temple,  by  the 
sect  of  the  Yezidis,  in  the  neighborhood  of  ancient 
Nineveh,  at  the  present  time.  Describing  an  evening 
service  which  he  attended,  Layard  says  :  "  When  the 
prayers  were  ended,  those  who  marched  in  proces- 
sion kissed,  as  they  passed  by,  the  right  side  of  the 
doorway  leading  into  the  temple,  where  a  serpent  is 
figured  on  the  wall."  Again,  "  Soon  after  sunrise,  on 
the  following  morning,  the  sheikhs  and  cawals  offered 
up  a  short  prayer  in  the  court  of  the  temple.  .  .  .  Some 
prayed  in  the  sanctuary,  frequently  kissing  the  thresh- 
old and  holy  places  within  the  building."2 

When  the  sacred  ark  of  the  Hebrews  was  captured 
by  the  Philistines,  and  brought  into  the  house  of  the 
god  Dagon,  the  record  is  :  "  When  they  of  Ashdod 
arose  early  on  the  morrow,  behold,  Dagon  was  fallen 
upon  his  face  to  the  ground  before  the  ark  of  the 
Lord.  And  they  took  Dagon,  and  set  him  in  his 
place  again.  And  when  they  arose  early  on  the  mor- 
row morning,  behold,  Dagon  was  fallen  upon  his  face 
to  the  ground  before  the  ark  of  the  Lord  ;  and  the 
head  of  Dagon  and  both  the  palms  of  his  hands  lay 

1  Layard's  Nineveh  and  Babylon  (Am.  ed.),  pp.  302-311. 
2  Ibid.,  p.  69  f. 


LEAPING  OVER   THE  THRESHOLD.  1 17 

cut  off  upon  the  threshold."  It  is  added,  in  our 
present  Bible  text :  "  Therefore  neither  the  priests  of 
Dagon,  nor  any  that  come  into  Dagon's  house,  tread  on 
the  threshold  of  Dagon  in  Ashdod,  unto  this  day."  ! 

It  would  seem,  from  the  words  "  unto  this  day," 
that  this  added  statement  was  a  gloss  by  a  later  writer 
or  copyist.  The  original  force  of  the  wonder  was  in 
Dagon's  being  overthrown  at  his  very  shrine,  falling 
maimed  on  the  threshold  altar  of  his  temple.  But  the 
suggestion  of  the  gloss  is  that  the  unwillingness  of 
the  Philistines  to  tread  on  the  threshold  of  the  temple 
(which  appears  to  have  been  of  primitive  origin)  did 
not  exist  among  the  worshipers  of  Dagon  prior  to 
this  incident.  The  Septuagint  adds,2  concerning  the 
later  practice  of  the  Philistines  at  the  threshold,  "  be- 
cause leaping  they  leap  over  it." 

Leaping  over  the  threshold  is  at  times  spoken  of  in 
the  Bible  as  if  it  had  a  taint  of  idolatry.  Thus  Zeph- 
aniah,  foretelling,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  the  divine 
judgments  on  idolaters,  says  :  "  In  that  day  I  will 
punish  all  those  that  leap  over  the  threshold."3  This 
is  explained  in  the  Targum  as  "  those  that  walk  in  the 
customs  of  the  Philistines."  Yet  the  Bible  some- 
times refers  to  the  temple  threshold  as  a  fitting  place 
of  worship,  and  its  recognition  as  a  holy  altar  as  com- 
mendable. 

1 1  Sam.  5  :  1-5.  2  In  loco.  3  Zeph.  1  :  9. 


Il8  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

Ezekiel  prophesies  that  the  restored  Prince  of 
Israel  "shall  worship  at  the  threshold  of  the  gate"1 
of  the  Lord's  house;  and  he  sees,  in  vision,  "the 
glory  of  the  Lord  .  .  .  over  the  threshold  of  the 
house."2  Again  the  Lord  complains  of  the  profana- 
tion of  his  temple  by  idolaters  "  in  their  setting  of 
their  threshold  by  my  threshold,  and  their  door-post 
beside  my  door-post,  and  there  was  but  the  wall  be- 
tween me  and  them."3 

That  it  was  the  threshold  or  doorway  of  the  taber- 
nacle which  was  counted  sacred,  is  evident  from  the 
wording  of  the  Levitical  laws  concerning  the  offering 
of  blood  in  sacrifices.  "  This  is  the  thing  which  the 
Lord  hath  commanded,  saying,  What  man  soever 
there  be  of  the  house  of  Israel,  that  killeth  an  ox,  or 
lamb,  or  goat,  in  the  camp,  or  that  killeth  it  without 
the  camp,  and  hath  not  brought  it  unto  the  door  of  the 
tent  of  meeting,  to  offer  it  as  an  oblation  unto  the 
Lord  before  the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord  :  blood  shall 
be  imputed  unto  that  man  ;  he  hath  shed  blood ;  and 
that  man  shall  be  cut  off  from  among  his  people  :  to 
the  end  that  the  children  of  Israel  may  bring  their 
sacrifices,  which  they  sacrifice  in  the  open  field,  even 
that  they  may  bring  them  unto  the  Lord,  unto  the 
door  of  the  tent  of  meeting,  unto  the  priest,  and  sacrifice 
them  for  sacrifices  of  peace  offerings  unto  the  Lord. 

1  Ezek.  46  :  2.  2  Ibid.,  10  :  4  ;  9  :  3.  3  Ibid.,  43  :  8. 


TABERNA CLE  DOORWAY.  1 1 9 

And  the  priest  shall  sprinkle  the  blood  upon  the  altar 
of  the  Lord  at  the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting,  and  burn 
the  fat  for  a  sweet  savour  unto  the  Lord.  .  .  .  Whatso- 
ever man  there  be  of  the  house  of  Israel,  or  of  the 
strangers  that  sojourn  among  them,  that  offereth  a 
burnt  offering  or  sacrifice,  and  bringeth  it  not  unto 
the  door  of  the  tent  of  meeting,  to  sacrifice  it  unto  the 
Lord ;  even  that  man  shall  be  cut  off  from  his  people."  l 

It  was  at  the  doorway  of  the  tent  of  meeting  that 
Aaron  and  his  sons  were  consecrated  to  the  holy 
priesthood;2  and  it  was  there  that  the  bullock  was 
sacrificed,  and  its  blood  was  poured  out  as  an  offering 
at  the  base  of  the  altar.3  It  was  at  the  doorway  of 
that  tent,  above  the  threshold,  that  the  pillar  of  cloud 
descended  in  token  of  the  Lord's  presence,  when 
Moses  met  the  Lord  there  in  loving  communion, 
while  the  people  stood  watching  from  the  doorways 
of  their  own  tents.4  The  altar  of  burnt  offering,  at  the 
base  or  foundation  of  which  the  blood  of  the  offerings 
was  outpoured,  was  itself  at  the  doorway  of  the  tent 
of  meeting,  and  he  who  offered  a  sacrifice  to  the  Lord 
offered  it  at  that  threshold.5 

A  post  of  honor  in  the  temple  was  as  a  guardian  of 

1  Lev.  17  :  2-9.  2  Exod.  29  :  4.  3  Ibid.,  29  :  10-12. 

4  Exod.  33  :  8-10;  see,  also,  Num.  12  :  5  ;  20  :  6 ;  Deut.  31  :  15. 

5  See,  for  example,  Exod.  40  :  6,  29 ;  Lev.  1  :  3,  3;  3:2;  4  :  4,  7 ; 
8  :  1-36;  12  :  6;  14  :  11,23  '.  J5  :  14.  29  ;  16:7;  17  :  4-9;  19  :  21 ;  Num. 
6  :  10-18. 


120  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

the  threshold,  as  was  also  the  place  of  a  keeper  of  the 
gate.  In  the  assignment  of  the  priests  and  Levites  to 
service,  by  Jehoiada  the  priest,  in  the  days  of  Atha- 
liah,  a  third  part  of  them  were  in  attendance  at  the 
"threshold,"  and  a  third  part  "at  the  gate  of  the 
foundation."  l  Later,  in  the  days  of  Josiah  and  Hil- 
kiah,  the  guardians  of  the  threshold  had  the  care  of 
the  money  collected  for  the  repairs  of  the  Lord's 
house.2  And  a  keeper  of  the  threshold,  or  of  the 
door,  of  the  house  of  God,  was  always  mentioned  with 
honor.3  When  the  Psalmist  contrasts  the  house  of 
God  with  the  tents  of  wickedness,  he  speaks  of  the 
honor  of  a  post  at  the  temple  threshold,  not  of  the 
humble  place  of  a  temple  janitor,  when  he  says  : 

"  For  a  day  in  thy  courts  is  better  than  a  thousand  [elsewhere]. 
I  had  rather  stand  at  the  threshold  of  the  house  of  my  God, 
Than  to  dwell  in  the  tents  of  wickedness."  4 

In  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem,  the  altar  of  burnt  offer- 
ing was  before  the  threshold  of  the  Holy  Place  ;  and 
those  who  came  with  sacrifices  must  stop  at  that 
threshold,  and  proffer  the  blood  of  their  offering  to 
the  priests,  who  then  reverently  poured  it  out  at  the 
altar-threshold's  base.5 

1  2  Chron.  23  :  4>  5.  2  Ibid ^  34  :  8,  9  (see  margin  |. 

3  1  Chron.  15  :  23,  24;  Jer.  35  :  4 ;  52  :  24,  etc. 
4  Psa.  84  :  10  (see  margin). 
5  See  Edersheim's  The  Temple  :   Its  Ministry  and  Services,  p.  191  ;  also, 
Ginsburg's  art.  "  Passover,"  in  Kitto's  Cycl.  of  Bib.  Lit.,  p.  426. 


OFFERINGS  A  T  THE  DOOR.  1 2 1 

When  offerings  were  accepted  for  the  repairs  of  the 
temple,  in  the  days  of  Jehoash,  king  of  Judah,  it  is 
said  that  "  Jehoiada  the  priest  took  a  chest,  and  bored 
a  hole  in  the  lid  of  it,  and  set  it  beside  the  altar,  on 
the  right  side  as  one  cometh  into  the  house  of  the 
Lord.  And  the  priests  that  kept  [or  guarded]  the 
threshold  put  therein  all  the  money  that  was  brought 
into  the  house  of  the  Lord."  x  This  would  seem  to 
decide  the  position  of  the  altar  as  at  the  threshold, 
where  "one  cometh  into  the  house  of  the  Lord." 

An  altar  stood  at  the  doorway,  or  before  the  door, 
of  temples  of  later  date  in  Phenicia  and  Phrygia,  as 
shown  on  contemporary  medals  and  coins.2  And  so 
in  temples  in  other  lands. 

Among  the  early  Christian  remains  unearthed  in 
Asia  Minor  are  indications  of  the  former  position  of 
an  altar  on  the  threshold  of  a  sanctuary.  At  the  site 
of  ancient  Aphrodisias,  "  some  of  the  sarcophagi  of  the 
Byzantine  age  are  richly  wrought,  and  although  many 
are  of  Christian  date,  they  appear  to  have  retained  the 
pagan  devices."  At  the  end  of  one  of  these  sar- 
cophagi "appears  an  altar  burning  in  front  of  a  door," 
standing  indeed  on  the  very  threshold.3 

An  oath  of  peculiar  sacredness  among  Hindoos  is 

1  See  2  Kings  12:9;  22  :  4 ;  23  :  4 ;  25  :  18. 
2  See,  for  example,  representation  and  description  of  temples  at  Bvblus 
andBaalbec.in  Donaldson's  Architectura  Numismatica,  pp.  105  f.,  122-128. 
3  Fellows's  Travels  and  Researches  in  Asia  Minor,  p.  256. 


122  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

at  the  threshold  of  a  temple,  as  at  its  primal  altar. 
"  Is  a  man  accused  of  a  great  crime  ?  He  goes  to  the 
temple  [threshold],  makes  his  prostrations  ;  he  pauses, 
then  steps  over  it,  declaring  at  the  same  time  that  he  is 
not  guilty  of  the  crime  laid  to  his  charge.  It  is  there- 
fore very  common  to  ask  a  person  who  denies  any- 
thing that  he  is  suspected  to  have  done,  'Will  you 
step  over  the  threshold  of  the  temple?'  "  l 

Among  the  stories  told  in  India  of  judgments  at  the 
temple  threshold,  is  one  of  a  thieving  goldsmith,  who 
had  secreted  himself  in  a  pagoda  of  Vishnoo,  in  order 
to  take  from  the  sacred  image  one  of  its  jewel  eyes. 
Having  obtained  the  precious  stone,  he  waited  for  the 
opening  of  the  pagoda  doors  in  the  morning,  in  order 
to  escape  with  his  booty.  But  as  he  attempted  to 
cross  the  threshold,  when  the  door  was  opened,  he 
was  stricken  with  death  by  Vishnoo  "  at  the  very 
threshold."2  Justice  was  administered  at  the  very  seat 
of  justice. 

Bloody  sacrifices  are  still  known  at  the  temple 
thresholds  in  India,  notwithstanding  the  prejudice  of 
Hindoos  against  the  shedding  of  blood.  Within 
recent  times  an  English  gentleman,  in  an  official  posi- 
tion in  India,  discovered  a  decapitated  child  at  the 
very  door  of  a  celebrated  pagoda ;  and  an  investiga- 

1  Roberts's  Oriental  ///us.  of  Scrip.,  p.  148  f. 
2  Maurice's  Indian  Antiquities,  V.,  89. 


MUHAMMADAN  MOSKS.  123 

tion  showed  that  a  father  had  there  sacrificed  his  son 
to  avert  an  impending  evil.1 

When  a  famous  idol  was  destroyed  in  the  temple 
of  Somnauth,  during  the  Muhammadan  conquest  of 
India,  pieces  of  the  shattered  image  were  sent  by  the 
conquerors  to  the  mosks  of  Meccah,  Medina,  and 
Ghuznee,  to  be  thrown  down  at  the  thresholds  of 
their  gates,  there  to  be  trodden  under  foot  by  devout 
and  zealous  Mussulmans.2  The  accursed  idol  frag- 
ments might  be  trampled  on  at  the  threshold,  even 
while  the  threshold  itself  was  counted  sacred. 

In  Muhammadan  mosks  generally  the  threshold  is 
counted  sacred.  Across  the  threshold  proper,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  sacred  portion  of  the  interior,  "is  a 
low  barrier,  a  few  inches  high."3  Before  this  barrier 
the  worshiper  stops,  removes  his  shoes,  and  steps  over 
it,  with  the  right  foot  first.  In  some  smaller  mosks  a 
rod  above  the  outer  door-sill  stands  for  this  barrier. 

Describing  his  visit  to  one  of  the  mosks  in  Persia, 
Morier  says  :  "  Here  we  remarked  the  veneration  of 
the  Persians   for  the   threshold  of  a  holy  place. 
Before  they  ventured  to  cross  it,  they  knelt  down  and 

1  Maurice's   Indian  Antiquities,  V.,  79  f.,  note.     Compare  Trumbull's 
Blood  Covenant,  pp.  157-164. 

2  Maurice's  Modern  Hist,  of  Hindostan,  Pt.  I.,  Bk.  2,  chap.  3,  p.  296  f. 

3  Hughes's  Dictionary  of  Islam,  art.  "  Masjid;  "  also  Conder's  Heth  and 
Moab,  p.  293  f.  ;  also  Lane's  The  Modern  Egyptians,  I.,  105. 


124  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

kissed  it,  whilst  they  were  very  careful  not  to  touch 
it  with  their  feet."  1 

On  the  tomb  of  the  kings  of  Persia,  at  Com,  the  in- 
scription appears:  "Happy  and  glorious  the  believing 
one  who  in  reverence  bows  his  head  upon  the  thresh- 
old of  this  gate,  in  imitation  of  the  sun  and  moon.2 
All  that  he  will  ask  with  faith  in  this  gate,  shall  be  as 
the  arrow  that  reaches  the  mark."3  And  on  the 
tomb  of  Alee,  son-in-law  of  Muhammad  and  one  of 
his  successors,  there  stands  the  declaration :  "  The 
angel  messenger  of  the  truth,  Gabriel,  kisses  every  day 
the  threshold  of  thy  gate  ;  for  that  is  the  only  way  by 
which  one  can  come  to  the  throne  of  Muhammad."  4 

Even  among  Christians  in  this  primitive  region,  this 
reverence  for  the  threshold  as  the  earliest  altar  of  the 
temple  and  the  church  manifests  itself  in  various  ways. 
Dr.  Grant,  an  American  missionary,  tells  of  seeing  the 
Nestorian  Christians  kissing  the  threshold  of  the 
church  on  entering  the  sanctuary  for  the  Lord's  Day 
service. 5 

At  Baveddeen,  near  Bokhara,  is  the  tomb  of  Baha- 
ed-deen  Nakishbend,  the  national  saint  of  Turkestan, 

1  Morier's  Second  Journey  through  Persia,  p.  254. 

2  The  moon  is  said  to  have  thus  bowed  before  Muhammad,  at  the  thresh- 
old of  the  Kaabeh  at  Meccah.  Anecdotes  Arabes  et  Mussulmans,  p.  22  f. 
(By  J.  F.  de  la  Croix,  Paris,  1772.) 

3  Chardin's  Voyage,  I.,  282.  *  Ibid.,  I.,  292. 

5  Laurie's  Dr.  Grant  and  the  Mountain  Nestorian s,  p.  134  f. 


THRESHOLD  LIMITS.  125 

which  is  a  place  of  pilgrimage  second  only  to  the 
tomb  of  Muhammad.  "  In  the  front  of  the  tomb,"  as 
a  threshold,  is  the  famous  senghi  murad,  the  "  stone 
of  desire,"  which  has  been  tolerably  ground  away, 
and  made  smooth,  by  the  numerous  foreheads  of  pious 
pilgrims  that  have  been  rubbed  upon  it."1 

A  peculiar  sacrifice  in  Tibet  is  the  disemboweling 
of  a  devotee  in  the  presence  of  a  great  multitude,  as 
an  act  of  worship.  An  altar  on  which  this  act  is  per- 
formed is  erected  for  the  occasion  "  in  front  of  the 
temple  gate."  2 

In  the  more  sacred  shrines  of  Japan  and  Korea, 
Shinto  or  Booddhist  temples,  pilgrim  worshipers  are 
permitted  to  go  no  farther  than  the  threshold  of  the 
inner  sanctuary.  There  they  may  deposit  their  offer- 
ings and  may  prostrate  themselves  in  prayer,  but  they 
cannot  pass  beyond. 

At  Kitzuki,  "the  most  ancient  shrine  of  Japan," 
multitudes  of  pilgrims  gather  for  worship.  They  are 
coming  and  going  ceaselessly,  but  all  pause  before 
the  threshold  of  the  inner  sanctuary.  "None  enter 
there:  all  stand  before  the  dragon -swarming  door- 
way, and  cast  their  offerings  into  the  money -chest 
placed  before  the  threshold;  many  making  contribu- 
tions of  small  coin,  the  very  poorest  throwing  only  a 

1  Vambery's  Travels  in  Central  Asia,  p.  233. 
2  Hue's  Travels  in  Tartary,  Thibet,  and  China,   I.,  191. 


126  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

handful  of  rice  into  the  box.  Then  they  clap  their 
hands,  and  bow  their  heads  before  the  threshold,  and 
reverently  gaze  through  the  hall  of  prayer  at  the 
loftier  edifice,  the  holy  of  holies  beyond  it  Each 
pilgrim  remains  but  a  little  while,  and  claps  his  hands 
but  four  times;  yet  so  many  are  coming  and  going 
that  the  sound  of  the  clapping  is  like  the  sound  of  a 
cataract."  *  The  same  is  true  of  "  the  great  Shrines 
of  Ise,  chief  Mecca  of  the  Shinto  faith,"  2  of  those  of 
famous  Nikko,  and  of  other  centers  of  worship.3 

4.    TEMPLE    THRESHOLDS     IN    AFRICA. 

The  oldest  temple  discovered  in  Egypt  is  little 
more  than  a  doorway  with  an  altar  at  its  threshold, 
and  with  a  stele  on  either  side  of  the  altar.  This 
temple  is  near  the  base  of  the  stepped  pyramid  of 
Meydoom,  dating  back  probably  to  the  beginning  of 
the  fourth  dynasty.4 

Later,  in  Egypt,  as  in  early  Babylonia,  the  door- 
way, above  the  threshold,  had  peculiar  sacredness,  in 
the  temples  and  in  the  approaches  to  the  under-world. 

1  Hearn's  Glimpses  of  Unfamiliar  Japan,  I.,  188. 
2  Lowell's  Occult  Japan,  pp.  270-273  ;    also,   Isabella  Bird's   Unbeaten 
Tracks  in  Japan,  II.,  278-285. 

3  Ibid.,  I.,  111-119;   II.,  286-288. 
4  See  Petrie's  Ten  Years'1  Digging  in  Egypt,  pp.  138-142;  also,  Mariette's 
Monuments  of  Upper  Egypt,  p.  107  f.,  and  Maspero's  Dawn  of  Civiliza- 
tion, pp.  358-361. 


EGYPTIAN  THRESHOLDS.  12/ 

The  pylon,  or  propylon,  of  an  Egyptian  temple,  was  a 
monumental  gateway  before  the  temple,  and  exalted 
honor  attached  to  it.  It  frequently  gave  its  name  to 
the  entire  temple.1  The  side  towers  of  this  gateway 
are  said  to  have  represented  Isis  and  Nephthys,  and 
the  door  itself  between  these  towers  stood  for  Osiris, 
the  judge  of  the  living  and  the  dead.2 

There  was  indeed  a  temple  in  Thebes  which  bore 
the  name  of  "Silver  Threshold."  This  temple  "is 
mentioned  in  the  time  of  the  twenty -first  dynasty; 
and  it  cannot  have  been  earlier  than  the  eighteenth 
dynasty,  when  silver  was  growing  cheaper  in  Egypt."3 
But  the  prominence  of  the  "  threshold  "  in  the  desig- 
nation of  the  "  temple  "  is  aside  from  the  question  of 
the  time  of  the  use  of  silver. 

"The  winged  sun  disk  was  placed  above  all  the 
doors  into  the  temples,  that  the  image  of  Horus 
might  drive  away  all  unclean  spirits  from  the  sacred 
building." 4  These  overshadowing  wings  marked  the 
special  sacredness  of  the  doors  beneath  them. 

When  an  Egyptian  priest  opened  the  door  of  the 

1  Brugsch's  Egypt  under  the  Pharaohs,  I.,  67. 

,J  See  Wilkinson's  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians, 
I.,  xiv. 

3  This  is  on  the  testimony  of  Prof.  W.  Max  Muller,  who  adds  that 
"  so  far  the  Egyptologists  have  not  paid  any  attention  to  the  threshold;  " 
hence  there  is  a  lack  of  material  yet  available  as  showing  its  peculiar 
sacredness. 

*  Erman's  Life  in  Anc.  Egypt,  p.  272. 


128  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

shrine— the  holy  of  holies  of  the  temple— he  must 
prostrate  himself  at  the  threshold  in  reverent  worship. 
"  According  to  the  Theban  rite,  ...  as  soon  as  he  saw 
the  image  of  the  god  he  had  to  '  kiss  the  ground, 
throw  himself  on  his  face,  throw  himself  entirely  on 
his  face,  kiss  the  ground  with  his  face  turned  down- 
ward, offer  incense,'  and  then  greet  the  god  with  a 
short  petition."  l  This  priestly  worship  was  at  the 
threshold  of  the  shrine. 

The  Egyptian  idea  of  the  future  life,  and  of  the 
world  beyond  this,  had  marked  correspondences  with 
the  Babylonian.  Osiris  presided  over  the  under-world, 
as,  indeed,  he  was  the  chief  object  of  worship  in  this.2 
He  had  been  slain  in  a  conflict  with  evil,  and  in  his 
new  life  he  was  the  friend  and  helper  of  those  who 
struggled  against  evil.3  He  was  in  a  peculiar  sense 
the  door  of  the  life  beyond  this,  "  Osiris,  opening  the 
ways  of  the  two  worlds;"4  and  those  who  passed 
that  door  safely  were  identified  with  himself  in  the 
under-world. 5 

A  closed  door  toward  the  west,  in  a  tomb,  repre- 
sented the   deceased  on  his  way  to  Osiris.6     And  as 

i  Lemm's  "  Ritual  Book,"  p.  29  ff.,  47  5  cited  in   Erman's  Life  in  Anc. 
Egypt,  p.  274  f-  , 

2  Erman's  Life  in  Anc.  Egypt,  pp.  260,  308  f.  ;  Manette  Rev  s  Monu- 
ments of  Upper  Egypt,  p.  26. 

3  Wilkinson's  Ancient  Egyptians,  III.,  65-86. 

*  Book  of  the  Dead,  CXLII. 

5  Renouf  s  Relig.  of  Anc.  Egypt,  p.  191  f-       6  See  P-  Ic6-  sltPra' 


BOOK  OF  THE  DEAD.  129 

shown  in  the  "  Book  of  the  Dead  "  the  approach  to  Osi- 
ris was  by  a  series  of  doors,  which  could  be  passed  only 
by  one  who  showed  his  identification  with  Osiris,  and 
his  worthiness  as  such.1  At  the  entrance  to  the  Hall 
of  the  Two  Truths,  or  of  the  Two-fold  Maat, 2  as  the 
place  of  final  judgment,  the  deceased  was  challenged 
by  the  threshold  of  the  door,  by  the  two  side-posts,  by 
the  lock,  by  the  key,  and  by  the  door  itself;  and  he 
could  not  pass  these  unless  he  proved  his  oneness  with 
Osiris  by  his  knowledge  of  their  names  severally.3 

A  saint's  tomb,  called  a  wefy,  is  a  common  place  of 
worship  in  Egypt  Sometimes  a  mosk  is  built  over 
it  and  sometimes  it  serves  as  a  substitute  for  a  mosk, 
where  no  mosk  is  near.  "  At  least  one  such  building 
forms  a  conspicuous  object  close  by,  or  within  almost 
every  Arab  village ;  "  and  these  tombs  are  frequently 
visited  by  those  who  would  make  supplication  for 
themselves,  or  intercession  for  others,  or  who  would 
do  a  worthy  act,  and  merit  a  correspondent  blessing. 
"  Many  a  visitor,  on  entering  the  tomb,  kisses  the 
threshold,  or  touches  it  with  his  right  hand,  which  he 
then  kisses." 4  Similar  customs  prevail  in  Arabia  and 
Syria. 

1  Book  of  the  Dead,  CXLV.,  CXLVI. 

2  Renoufs  Religion  of  Ancient  Egypt,  p.  202  f. 

3  Book  of  the  Dead,  CXXV. 

4  Lane's  Thousand  and  One  Nights.      Notes  to  Chapter  3,  Vol.  I.,  p. 

215   f.     See,  also,   Stanley   Lane's  Arabian  Society    in  the  Middle  Ages, 

P-  73- 

9 


130  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

At  Carthage,  which  was  a  Phenician  colony  but 
which  impressed  its  character  on  northern  Africa,  the 
chief  temple  gave  prominence  to  the  threshold,  ris- 
ing in  steps  as  an  altar  before  a  statue  of  the  Queen 
of  Heaven.  Virgil,  describing  the  arrival  of  ^Eneas 
at  the  court  of  Queen  Dido,  says  : 

"  There  stood  a  grove  within  the  city's  midst, 
Delicious  for  its  shade  ;  where  when  they  came 
First  to  this  place,  by  waves  and  tempest  tossed, 
The  Carthaginians  from  the  earth  dug  up 
An  omen  royal  Juno  had  foretold 
That  they  should  find,  a  noble  horse's  head ; 
Thus  intimating  that  this  race  would  shine, 
Famous  in  war,  and  furnished  with  supplies 
For  ages.     Here  the  great  Sidonian  queen 
A  temple  built  to  Juno,  rich  in  gifts, 
And  in  the  presence  of  the  goddess  blessed. 
A  brazen  threshold  rose  above  the  steps,1 
With  brazen  posts  connecting,  and  the  hinge 
Creaked  upon  brazen  doors."  2 

The  churches  of  Abyssinia  always  stand  on  a  hill, 
and  in  a  grove — like  the  temple  at  Carthage.  "  When 
you  go  to  the  church  you  put  off  your  shoes  before 
your  first  entering  the  outer  precinct.  ...  At  entry, 
you  kiss  the  threshold  and  two  door-posts,  go  in  and 
say  what  prayer  you  please ;  that  finished  you  come 
out  again,  and  your  duty  is  over.  "  3 

1  Or,  "  by  steps," — " gradibus ." 
'Cranch's  sEneid  of  Virgil,  I.,  572-585  ;    Alneis,  I.,  441-449. 
3  Bruce's  Travels    (Dublin  ed.),  III.,  644,  Bk.  IV.,  chap.  12. 


''KISSING   THE  CHURCH."  13 1 

The  yard  of  an  Abyssinian  church  has  been  com- 
pared to  "  the  lucus  or  sacred  grove  of  the  pagan  tem- 
ple." "  The  church  itself  is  square,  and  built  of  stone 
with  beams  stuck  in  to  support  them.  At  the  porch, 
the  wooden  lintels,  which  the  pious  kiss  with  intense 
earnestness, — in  fact,  kissing  the  walls  and  lintels  of  a 
church  is  a  great  feature  in  Abyssinian  devotion,  so 
much  so  that,  instead  of  speaking  of  '  going  to  church,' 
they  say  '  kissing  the  church,' — are  carved  with  quaint 
and  elaborate  devices."  1 

At  Yeha,  near  Aksum,  are  the  remains  of  a  ruined 
temple,  within  the  area  of  which  a  church  was  at  one 
time  built.  "  In  front  of  the  vestibule  stood  two  rude 
monoliths,  at  the  base  of  one  of  which  is  an  altar  with 
a  circular  disk  on  it,  presumably,  from  the  analogy  of 
those  at  Aksum,  for  receiving  the  blood  of  slaughtered 
victims."  Obviously,  the  altar  of  this  temple  was  at 
its  threshold. 

Marriages  are  said  to  be  celebrated  in  Abyssinia  at 
the  church  door — the  wedding  covenant  being  thus 
made  before  the  threshold  altar.2 

And  so  in  the  earlier  temples  of  Egypt,  of  Carthage, 
and  of  Abyssinia,  and  in  Christian  and  Muhamma- 
dan  places  of  worship,  the  doorway  is  held  sacred,  and, 
most  of  all,  the  threshold,  or  "  floor  of  the  door." 

1  Bent's  Sacred  City  of  the  Ethiopians ,  p.  40  f. 
2  See  Wood's   Wedding  Day  in  all  Ages  and  Countries,  II.,  17. 


132  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

5.    TEMPLE    THRESHOLDS    IN    EUROPE. 

Traces  of  the  primitive  sacredness  of  the  doorway 
and  the  threshold,  in  places  of  worship,  are  to  be 
found  in  Europe,  ancient  and  modern,  as  in  Asia  and 
Africa. 

The  term  "  threshold  "  occurs  in  such  prominence 
in  connection  with  temples,  in  the  earliest  Greek  litera- 
ture, as  to  show  that  its  primitive  meaning  included 
the  idea  of  altar,  or  of  sanctuary  foundation.  Thus 
the  House  of  Zeus  on  Olympus  is  repeatedly  spoken 
of  as  the  "House  of  the  Bronze  Threshold."1  In 
these  references,  "  the  nature  of  the  occurrences,  the 
uniformity  of  the  phrase,  the  position  of  the  words  in 
the  verse,  all  point  to  this  as  an  old  hieratic  phrase, 
and  the  meaning  evidently  is,  '  the  house  that  is  stab- 
lished  forever.'  "2 

This  term  "  bronze  threshold  "  occurs  more  than 
once  in  reference  to  the  temple-palace  of  Alcinoiis.3 
Tartarus  is  described  as  having  gates  of  iron  and  a 
"bronze  threshold."4  Night  and  day  meet  as  they 
cross  the  "  great  threshold  of  bronze;  "  and  Atlas  up- 
holds heaven   at   the  threshold  of  the   under-world.5 

1  See,  for  example,  Iliad,  I.,  426  ;  XIV.,  173  ;  XXI.,  427,  505  ;  Odyssey, 
VIII.,  321. 

2  Professor  W.  A.  Lamberton,  in  a  personal  note  to  the  author. 

3  Odyssey,  XIII.,  4;  VII.,  83,  87,  89. 
*  Iliad,  VIII.,  15.  5  See  Hesiod's  Theogony,  V.,  749. 


THRESHOLDS  IN  HOMER.  1 3  3 

The  treasures  of  Delphi  are  described  as  u  within 
the  stone  threshold  of  the  archer  god,  Phoebus  Apollo, 
in  Rocky  Pytho."  l  And  he  who  seeks  counsel  at  that 
oracle  is  spoken  of  as  one  who  crosses  "  the  stone 
threshold."  2 

In  Sophocles'  "  Oedipus  at  Colonus  "  the  Athenian 
warns  the  stranger  Oedipus  that  he  is  on  holy  ground, 
in  the  realm  of  Poseidon,  and  that  the  spot  where  he 
now  treads  is  "  called  the  brazen  threshold  of  the 
land,  the  stay  of  Athens."3  In  other  words,  the 
bronze  threshold  is  an  archaic  synonym  for  the  en- 
during border,  or  outer  limit,  of  spiritual  domain. 

This  prominence  given  to  the  threshold  in  earlier 
Greek  literature  is  not,  it  is  true,  continued  in  later 
writings  ;  yet  there  are  traces  of  it  still  in  occasional 
poetic  references  to  the  "  threshold  of  life,"  and  the 
"  threshold  of  the  year,"  and  the  "  threshold  of  old 
age."  When  Homer  refers  "  to  houses,  to  rooms  in 
houses,  or  to  courtyards, the  'threshold'  is  constantly 
spoken  of:  a  man  steps  over  a  threshold,  stands  at  a 
threshold,  sits  at  a  threshold,  etc.  And  so  important 
is  the  threshold  that  its  material  is  almost  regularly 
mentioned;  it  is  ash,  oak,  stone,  bronze,  etc.  In  later 
times  all  these  locutions  disappear ;  men  go  through 

i  Iliad,  IX.,  404.  2  Odyssey,  VIII.,  80. 

s  Oedipus  at  Colonus,  54  fT.  See,  also,  1591.  Comp.  Hesiod's  TTieogony, 
811. 


134  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

doorways,  enter,  stand  in  porches,  etc.,  instead."  !  Yet 
it  is  the  archaic  use  that  points  to  the  primitive  promi- 
nence of  the  threshold. 

In  historic  times,  however,  as  in  earlier,  the  altar  of 
sacrifice  was  to  be  found,  in  Grecian  and  Roman 
temples,  near  the  threshold  of  the  door.  While  there 
were  smaller  altars,  for  the  offering  of  incense  and 
bloodless  sacrifices,  in  the  interior  of  temples,  the 
larger  and  more  important  altars,  for  the  offering  of 
animal  sacrifices,  whether  of  beasts  or  of  men,  were 
before  the  temple,  in  front  of  the  threshold, — bomoi 
pronaoi} 

A  ruined  temple  of  Artemis  Propylsea,  at  Eleusis, 
shows  the  main  altar  immediately  before  the  thresh- 
old, between  the  antae.  The  altar  of  the  temple  of 
Apollo  at  Delphi  was  in  a  like  position  ;  as  shown  in 
the  fact  that  "when  Neoptolemus  is  attacked  by 
Orestes  in  the  vestibule  of  the  temple  at  Delphi,  he 
seizes  the  arms  which  were  suspended  by  means  of 
nails  or  pins  from  one  of  the  antae,  takes  his  station 
upon  the  altar,  and  addresses  the  people  in  his  own 
defense."  3 

When   the   "priest   of  Jupiter,   whose   temple  was 

1  Prof.  W.  A.  Lamberton. 

2  yEschylus's  "Suppliants,''  p.  497;  cited  in  Smith's  Diet,  of  Creek  and 
Roman  Antiq.,  s.  v.  "Ara."  See,  also,  Donaldson's  Architectura  Numis- 
matica,  pp.  xvi,  xvii,  33,  54. 

3  F.uripides,  Androm.,  1098.  Smith's  Diet.  0/  Greek  and  Rom.  Antiq., 
s.  v.  "  Antae." 


LIFE-GIVING  WATERS.  1 35 

before  the  city  "  of  Lystra,  would  have  given  divine 
honors  to  Paul  and  Barnabas,  he  brought  the  gar- 
landed oxen  "  unto  the  gates,"  to  sacrifice  them  there. 
At  the  gate  of  the  city,  within  which  the  supposed  gods 
were  to  be  found,  seemed  the  proper  place  of  sacrifice.1 
There  are  references  in  classic  story,  as  in  Babylo- 
nian legends,  in  Phenician  and  Syrian  beliefs,  and  in 
the  Hebrew  prophetic  visions,  to  life-giving  waters 
flowing  out  from  under  the  threshold  of  the  sanctuary. 
In  the  garden  of  the  palace-temple  of  Alcinous  "  are 
two  springs,  the  one  ripples  through  the  whole  gar- 
den, the  other  opposite  it  gushes  under  the  threshold 
of  the  courtyard  to  the  lofty  house,  and  from  it  the 
citizens  draw  their  water."2  On  "  the  apple-growing 
shores  of  the  Hesperides,"  where  Atlas  upholds  "  the 
holy  threshold  of  heaven,"  according  to  the  poets, 
"  springs  of  ambrosia  pour  from  the  chamber  of  Zeus, 
from  his  bedside,"  and  give  a  rich  blessing  to  the  life- 
giving  earth.3  And  of  Delphi  it  is  said :  "  Going  to- 
ward the  temple  we  come  upon  the  spring  Cassotis  : 
there  is  a  low  wall  about  it,  and  you  ascend  to  the 
spring  through  the  walls.  The  water  of  this  Cassotis 
they  say  sinks  underground,  and  in  the  shrine  of  the 
god  [Apollo]  makes  the  woman  prophetic  [is  inspira- 
tion to  her.]"4 

1  Acts  14  :  8-14.  *  Odyssey,  VII.,  130. 

3  Euripides,  Hippolytus,  741.  *  Pausanias,  Bk.  X.,  24,  5. 


136  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

In  the  early  churches  of  Europe,  the  threshold 
marked  a  sacred  boundary  of  the  edifice,  to  cross 
which  indicated  a  certain  covenant  right  to  participate 
in  the  privileges  of  the  house  of  God.  As  the '  struc- 
ture of  the  churches  changed,  in  the  progress  of  the 
centuries,  the  threshold  of  the  sanctuary  came  to  be 
in  a  different  portion  of  the  building,  or  series  of  build- 
in  crs  :  but  its  sacredness  remained,  wherever  it  was 
supposed  to  be.  The  term  "  altar  "  also  changed,  from 
the  border  line  of  the  place  of  worship,  to  the  holy 
table  within  the  sanctuary. 

Speaking  of  the  growth  of  the  early  church  build- 
ings, Bingham  says  :  "  In  the  strictest  sense,  including 
only  the  buildings  within  the  walls,  they  were  com- 
monly divided  into  three  parts:  (1.)  The  narthex  or 
ante-temple,  where  the  penitents  and  catechumens 
stood.  (2.)  The  naos  or  temple,  where  the  communi- 
cants had  their  respective  places.  And  (3)  the  bema 
or  sanctuary,  where  the  clergy  stood  to  officiate  at 
the  altar.  But  in  a  larger  sense  there  was  another 
ante-temple  or  narthex  without  the  walls,  under  which 
was  comprised  the  propylaea,  or  vcstibidum,  the  out- 
ward porch  ;  then  the  atrium  or  area,  the  court  lead- 
ing from  that  to  the  temple,  surrounded  with  porticos 
or  cloisters.  .  .  .  There  were  also  several  exedrce,  such 
as  the  baptistery,  the  diaconiatm,  the  pastophoria,  and 
other  adjacent  buildings,  which  were  reckoned  to  be 


BAPTISMAL  FONT  AT  THRESHOLD.     ■    1 37 

either  without  or  within  the  church,  according  as  it 
was  taken  in  a  stricter  or  a  larger  acceptation."  l 

In  the  early  churches,  the  place  of  baptism  was  out- 
side of  the  church  proper,  or  the  naos,  it  is  said. 
"There  is  nothing  more  certain  than  that  for  many 
ages  the  baptistery  was  a  distinct  place  from  the  body 
of  the  church,  and  reckoned  among  the  exedrce,  or 
places  adjoining  to  the  church."  2  "  The  first  ages  all 
agreed  in  this,  that,  whether  they  had  baptisteries  or 
not,  the  place  of  baptism  was  always  without  the 
church."3  Even  in  mediaeval  times,  in  the  churches 
of  England,  baptisms  were  on  the  outer  side  of  the 
threshold  of  the  church  proper,  "  the  child  being  held 
without  the  doors  of  the  church  " 4  until  baptized.  In 
many  churches  of  Europe  at  the  present  time  the  bap- 
tismal font  is  at  or  near  the  door  of  the  church. 

In  1661,  a  formal  reply  of  the  Church  of  England 
bishops  to  a  request  of  the  Presbyterians  that  the 
font  might  be  placed  before  the  congregation,  that  all 
might  see  it,  was  :  "  The  font  usually  stands,  as  it  did 
in  primitive  times,  at  or  near  the  church  door,  to 
signify  that  baptism  was  the  entrance  into  the  church 
mystical."  5 

1  Bingham's  Antiquities  of  the  Christian  Church,  Bk.  VIII.,  chap.  3. 

2  Ibid.,  Bk.  VIII.,  chap.  4.  3  Ibid.,  Bk.  VIII.,  chap.  7. 

*  Blunt's  Annotated  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  p.  210. 

5  Ibid.,  p.  217. 


138  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

Marriages,  like  baptisms,  were  at  the  church  porch 
or  outside  of  the  threshold.  "  The  old  missals  direct 
the  placing  of  the  man  and  the  woman  at  the  church 
door  during  the  service,  and  that  at  the  end  of  it 
they  shall  proceed  within  up  to  the  altar."1  The 
idea  would  seem  to  be  that  a  holy  covenant  like 
marriage,  which  is  the  foundation  of  a  new  family, 
must  be  solemnized  at  the  primitive  family  altar, — the 
threshold. 

Describing  the  marriage  rites  of  Germany  in  the 
middle  ages,  Baring-Gould  says :  "Ina  Ritual  of 
Rennes,  of  the  eleventh  century,  we  find  a  rubric  to 
this  effect :  '  The  priest  shall  go  before  the  door  of  the 
church  in  surplice  and  stole,  and  ask  the  bridegroom 
and  bride  prudently  whether  they  desire  to  be  legally 
united;  and  then  he  shall  make  the  parents  give  her 
away,  according  to  the  usual  custom,  and  the  bride- 
groom shall  fix  the  dower,  announcing  before  all 
present  what  (witthum)  he  intends  to  give  the  bride. 
Then  the  priest  shall  make  him  betroth  her  with  a 
ring,  and  give  her  an  honorarium  of  gold  or  silver 
according  to  his  means.  Then  let  him  give  the  pre- 
scribed benediction.  After  which,  entering  into  the 
church,  let  him  begin  mass ;  and  let  the  bridegroom 
and  bride  hold  lighted  candles,  and  make  an  obla- 
tion at  the  offertory;  and  before  the  Pax  let  the  priest 

1  See  Wood's  Wedding  Day  in  all  Ages  and  Countries,  II.,  15  f. 


MARRIA GES  A  T  THRESHOLD.  1 39 

bless  them  before  the  altar  under  a  pall  or  other  cover- 
ing [the  wedding  canopy],  according  to  custom;  and 
lastly,  let  the  bridegroom  receive  the  kiss  of  peace 
from  the  priest,  and  pass  it  on  to  his  bride.' 

"  In  ancient  times  the  people  of  France  were  married, 
not  within  the  church  at  the  altar  as  now,  but  at  the 
outer  door.  This  was  the  case  in  1599,  in  which  year 
Elizabeth,  the  daughter  of  Hemy  II.,  was  married  to 
Philip  II.  of  Spain  ;  and  the  Bishop  of  Paris  performed 
the  ceremony  at  the  door  of  the  cathedral  of  Notre 
Dame.  Another  instance  of  this  kind  occurred  in 
1599  in  France.  Henrietta  Maria  was  married  to 
King  Charles  by  proxy  at  the  door  of  Notre  Dame, 
and  the  bride,  as  soon  as  the  ceremony  was  over 
entered  the  church,  and  assisted  at  [attended]  mass."  2 

"  The  pre-Reformation  rule  was  to  begin  the  mar- 
riage service  at  the  door  of  the  church.  In  his  '  Wyf 
of  Bathe,'  Chaucer  [in  the  days  of  Edward  III.]  refers 
to  this  custom: — 

■  Housbandes  atte  chirche  dore  I  have  had  fyve.' 

This  old  usage  was  abandoned  by  authority  in  the 
time  of  Edward  VI.  Yet  there  is  reason  for  thinking 
that  it  was  not  entirely  given  up.  "There  is  a  poem 
of  Herrick's,  written    about   1640,  which    is    entitled, 


Baring-Gould*.,  Germany,  Present  and  Past   (Am.  ed.),p.  105. 
2  Wood's   Wedding  Day  in  all  Ages  and  Countries,  II.,  14  f. 


I4-0  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

1  The  Entertainment  or  Porch  Verse  at  the  Marriage 
of  Mr.  Hen.  Northly.'  "  ! 

"  When  Edward  I.  married  Marguerite  of  France, 
in  1 299,  he  endowed  her  at  the  door  of  Canterbury 
Cathedral"  Selden  declares  that  "dower  could  be 
lawfully  assigned  only  at  the  door ;  "  and  Littleton 
affirms  to  the  same  effect.2 

"  At  Witham  in  Essex  it  is,  or  was,  the  custom  to 
perform  the  first  part  of  the  marriage  service  at  the 
font  [near  the  door].  When  the  Rev.  A.  Snell  was 
appointed  to  the  benefice  in  1873,  he  spoke  to  a  bride- 
groom about  this  usage,  and  he  (the  bridegroom) 
particularly  requested  that  he  might  be  married  at 
the  font,  as  he  liked  old  customs."  3 

Another  survival  of  the  primitive  rite  of  threshold 
covenanting  seems  to  be  shown  in  certain  customs 
observed  in  various  parts  of  Europe,  which  look  like 
the  substitution  of  an  altar-stone  for  a  threshold  altar, 
in  the  marriage  ceremony. 

"Thus  in  the  old  temple  of  Upsal  [in  Sweden], 
wedding  couples  stood  upon  a  broad  stone  which  was 
believed  to  cover  the  tomb  of  St.  Eric."4  Corres- 
ponding customs  in  other  regions  would  go  to  show 

1  Vaux's  Church  Folk-Lore,  p.  99. 

*  Wood's  Wedding  Day  in  all  Ages  and  Countries,  II. ,  16. 

3  Vaux's  Church  Folk-Lore,  p.  98. 

*  Wood's   Wedding  Day  in  all  Ages  and  Countries,  II.,  17. 


A  MARRIAGE  STONE.  141 

that  the  earlier  practice  was  to  leap  over  the  stone, 
as  a  mode  of  threshold  covenanting,  instead  of  stand- 
ing on  it.  The  latter  was  a  change  without  a  reason 
for  it. 

For  instance,  just  outside  "the  ruined  church,  or 
abbey,  of  Lindisfarne,  is  the  socket  or  foot-stone,  in 
which  was  mortised  a  ponderous  stone  cross,  erected 
by  Ethelwold,  and  broken  down  by  the  Danes.  This 
socket  stone  is  now  called  the  "  petting  stone,"  and 
whenever  a  marriage  is  solemnized  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, after  the  ceremony  the  bride  is  obliged  to  step 
upon  it ;  and  if  she  cannot  stride  to  the  end  thereof, 
the  marriage  is  deemed  likely  to  prove  unfortunate 
and  fruitless."  While  this  would  seem  to  point  to  the 
custom  of  standing  upon  the  stone,  in  the  modern 
marriage  customs  of  the  same  region,  a  barrier  is 
"  erected  at  the  churchyard  gate,  consisting  of  a  large 
paving-stone  which  was  placed  on  its  edge  and  sup- 
ported by  two  smaller  stones.  On  either  side  stood  a 
villager,  who  made  the  couple  and  every  one  else 
jump  over  it."1 

"In  Lantevit  Major  Church  was  a  stone  called  the 
■  marriage  stone,'  with  many  knots  and  flourishes, 
and  the  head  of  a  person  upon  it,  and  this  inscription  : 

*Ne  Petra  calcetur 
Qu\a\e  subjacet  is  la  tuetur? 

1  Wood's  Wedding  Day  in  all  Ages  and  Countries,  II.,  254. 


142  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

Brides  usually  stood  upon  this  stone  at  their  mar- 
riages." l     Yet  the  inscription  itself: 

"  Let  not  the  stone  be  trodden  upon  ; 
What  it  lies  under,  it  guards," 

forbids  standing  upon  this  threshold  altar ;  and  it  is 
probable  that  in  earlier  times  it  was  stepped  over  in 
marriage  covenant,  and  not  upon. 

At  Belford,  in  Northumberland,  it  is  still  the  custom 
to  make  the  bridal  pair,  with  their  attendants,  leap 
over  a  stone  placed  in  their  path  outside  the  church 
porch.  This  stone  also  is  called  the  "  petting  stone," 
or  the  "louping  stone."  At  the  neighboring  village 
of  Embleton,  in  the  same  county,  two  stout  young 
lads  place  a  wooden  bench  across  the  door  of  the 
church  porch,  and  assist  the  bride  and  groom  and 
their  attendants  to  surmount  the  obstacle;  for  which 
assistance  a  gift  of  money  is  expected.  In  some 
places  a  stick  has  been  held  by  the  groomsmen  at 
the  church  door  for  the  bride  to  jump  over.  And 
again  a  stool  has  been  placed  at  the  churchyard  gate, 
over  which  the  whole  bridal  party  must  jump  one 
by  one  ;  and  this  stool  has  been  called  the  "parting- 
stool."  2 

A   "  mode  of  marriage "   current   in   Ireland,  until 

1  Wood's   Wedding  Day  in  all  Ages  and  Countries,  II.,  255. 
2  See  Henderson's  Folk- Lore  of  the  Northern  Counties   of  England  and 
the  Borders,  p.  38. 


CLERG  YMAN  A  T  THRESHOLD.  143 

recent  times,  was  that  of  jumping  over  a  form  of  the 
cross;1  and  jumping  over  a  broomstick  as  a  form  of 
marriage  would  seem  to  be  a  survival  of  this  custom 
of  leaping  across  the  threshold-stone,  in  token  of  a 
covenant.  "  Jumping  the  broomstick  "  is  sometimes 
spoken  of  as  an  equivalent  of  marriage. 

These  various  obstacles  to  progress,  at  wedding 
time,  would  seem  to  be  as  suggestions  of  the  thresh- 
old altar,  which  must  be  passed  in  the  marriage  cove- 
nant. The  church  threshold,  like  the  home  threshold, 
is  a  temporary  hindrance  to  an  advance.  Unless  it  is 
stepped  across,  the  covenant  is  incomplete. 

An  illustration  of  the  popular  idea  of  the  sacredness 
of  the  church  threshold,  and  of  the  impropriety  of 
stepping  on  it,  in  its  passing,  is  found  in  a  Finnish 
mode  of  judging  a  clergyman.  "  In  Finland,  it  is 
regarded  as  unlucky  if  a  clergyman  steps  on  the 
threshold,  when  he  comes  to  preach  at  a  church."  A 
writer  on  this  subject  says  :  "  A  Finnish  friend  told 
me  of  one  of  his  relations  going  to  preach  at  a  church, 
a  few  years  ago, — he  being  a  candidate  for  the  vacant 
living, — and  the  people  most  anxiously  watched  if  he 
stepped  on  the  threshold  as  he  came  in.  Had  he 
done  so,  I  fear  a  sermon  never  so  eloquent  would 
have   counted  but  little  against  so   dire  an   omen."2 

1  Curtin's  Myths  and  Folk- Lore  of  Ireland,  p.  177. 
*  See  Jones's  and  Knopf's  Folk-Tales  of  the  Magyars,  p.  410. 


144  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

Here  is  a  new  peril  for  pulpit  candidates,  if  this  primi- 
tive test  becomes  widely  popular ! 

Even  to  the  present  time,  it  is  customary,  in  por- 
tions of  Europe,  for  Jews  to  rub  their  fingers  on  the 
posts  of  a  synagogue  doorway,  and  then  kiss  their 
fingers.  Quite  an  indentation  in  the  stone  at  the  door 
of  the  synagogue  in  Worms  is  to  be  seen,  as  due  to 
this  constant  sacred  rubbing.1 

6.    TEMPLE    THRESHOLDS    IN    AMERICA. 

In  the  West,  as  in  the  East,  traces  of  the  primitive 
sacredness  of  the  threshold  and  the  doorway  are  to  be 
found.  The  stepped  pyramid,  or  uplifted  threshold, 
with  the  sanctuary  at  its  summit,  was  the  earliest  form 
of  temple  or  place  of  worship  in  Mexico,  and  in  Cen- 
tral and  South  America.  In  the  later  and  more  elabo- 
rate temples  there  was  no  altar  within  the  building, 
although  an  image  of  the  god  was  there. 

The  altar,  or  stone  of  sacrifice,  was  without,  before 
the  door  of  the  sanctuary.2  When  a  sacrifice  was 
offered  on  the  altar,  the  blood  of  that  sacrifice  was 
smeared  on  the  doors  of  the  temple  of  the  god.3 
Human    sacrifices  were    included   in   these  offerings, 

1  On  the  eye-witness  testimony  of  Prof.  Dr.  Morris  Jastrow,  Jr., 
2  Reville's    Nat.   Relig.   of  Mex.  and  Peru,  pp.  41,   179  f,   207;    also 
Bancroft's  Mex.,  I.,  296. 

3Roville's  Nat.  Relig.  of  Mex.  and  Peru,  p.  183  ;   Bancroft's  Mex.,  I.,  162. 


CENTRAL  AMERICAN  INDIANS.  145 

in  earlier  times.1  Even  when  larger  temples  were 
erected,  and  altars  were  enclosed  within  them,  human 
victims  were  brought  to  the  temple  entrance  into 
the  hands  of  the  priests ;  and  from  the  threshold  they 
were  borne  by  the  priests  themselves,  to  be  laid  on 
the  altar.2 

Among  the  Pipiles,  a  Maya  people,  in  Central 
America,  there  were  "two  principal  and  very  solemn 
sacrifices  ;  one  at  the  commencement  of  summer,  and 
the  other  at  the  beginning  of  winter."  Little  boys, 
from  six  to  twelve  years  old,  were  the  victims  of  sacri- 
fice. At  the  sound  of  trumpets  and  drums,  which 
assembled  the  people,  four  priests  came  out  of  the 
temple  with  braziers  of  coals  on  which  incense  was 
burning,  and  after  various  ceremonies  and  religious 
exercises  they  proceeded  to  the  house  of  the  high- 
priest,  near  the  temple,  and  took  from  it  the  boy  vic- 
tim of  the  sacrifice.  He  was  then  conducted  four 
times  round  the  court  of  the  temple,  with  dancing 
and  singing. 

When  this  ceremony  was  finished,  the  high-priest 
came  out  of  his  house  with  the  second  priest  and  his 
major-domo,  and  they  proceeded  to  the  temple  steps, 
accompanied  by  the  principal  men  of  the  locality, 
who,  however,  stopped  at  the  threshold  of  the  temple. 

1  Reville's  Nat.  Relig.  of  Mex.  and  Peru,  pp.  31,  184,  207  f. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  83. 

10 


146  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

Then  and  there  the  four  priests  "  seized  the  victim  by 
his  extremities,  and  the  major-domo  coming  out,  with 
little  bells  on  his  wrists  and  ankles,  opened  the  left 
breast  of  the  boy,  tore  out  his  heart,  and  handed  it  to 
the  high-priest,  who  put  it  into  a  little  embroidered 
purse,  which  he  closed." 

The  blood  of  the  victim  was  received  by  the  priests 
in  a  vessel  made  of  a  gourd,  and  was  by  them  sprinkled 
in  the  direction  of  the  four  cardinal  points.  Then  the 
heart,  in  its  purse,  was  put  back  into  the  body  of  the 
victim,  and  the  body  itself  was  interred  inside  of 
the  temple.  This  sacrifice,  at  the  threshold  altar,  was 
performed  at  the  threshold,  or  the  beginning,  of  each 
of  the  two  chief  seasons  of  the  year.1 

In  the  temples  of  Central  America,  generally,  the 
doorway  was  hardly  less  prominent  than  in  the  temples 
of  Egypt.  There  were  massive  decorations  on  and 
above  the  lintels ;  the  door  jams  were  richly  sculp- 
tured ;  and  there  were  male  and  female  figures,  or 
figures  of  animals,  as  guardians  on  either  side  of  the 
entrance.  In  some  instances  a  winged  globe  was 
above  the  door ;  and  the  uplifted  hand  was  found  over 
the  doorway  or  at  the  sides.2 

1  Bancroft's  Native  Races,  "Civilized  Nations,"  II.,  706  f. 
a  See  Bancroft's  Native  Races  and  Antiquities,  IV.,  209  f.,  314,  321,  323, 
332,  338,351,  S31,  801,  803,  805.     See  also,  Stephens's  Incidents  of  Travels 
in  Yucatan,   I.,  137.   167-176,  3°3-  3°6-  403"4°7.  4H"4I3  \    II.,  42,  54.  S6. 
72,  122. 


LAYING  OF  CORNER-STONE.  147 

Among  the  Natchez  Indians,  along  the  lower  Mis- 
sissippi, there  was  an  annual  "  Harvest  Festival,"  or 
"Festival  of  New  Fire,"  which  was  celebrated  with 
great  ceremony.  An  altar  was  in  front  of  the  temple, 
just  before  the  door.  On  this  occasion  the  priest 
of  the  sun  stood  on  the  threshold  of  the  temple  in 
the  early  morning,  watching  for  the  first  rays  of  the 
rising  sun.  The  chiefs,  and  braves  old  and  young, 
stood  near  the  altar.  The  women  with  infants  in 
their  arms  stood  in  a  semicircle  facing  the  priest. 
When  he  gave  the  signal  of  his  recognition  of  the 
sun,  by  rubbing  two  pieces  of  wood  to  start  a  new  fire 
for  the  altar,  they  faced  about  to  the  east  and  held  up 
their  infants  to  the  sun.  Other  exercises  of  worship 
followed.  The  priest's  place  in  this  ceremony  was  on 
the  threshold,  before  the  altar  of  that  temple.1 

In  America,  as  in  the  other  continents,  there  are 
survivals  of  the  primal  sacredness  of  the  threshold  of 
a  place  of  public  worship,  in  the  formal  ceremonies 
attending  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone,  or  threshold- 
stone,  of  a  new  church  building  of  any  denomination  ; 
and  in  the  use  of  holy  water  at  the  doorway  on  enter- 
ing Roman  Catholic  churches.  More  or  less  impor- 
tance is  attached  in  Protestant  Episcopal  churches  to 
the  location  of  the  baptismal  font  near  the  door,  and 

1  Chateaubraud's  Voyage  en  Amerique,  pp.  130-136 ;  cited  in   Frazer's 
Golden  Bough,  II.,  383. 


148  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

to  the  beginning  of  the  marriage  service  before  the 
bridal  party  approaches  the  threshold  of  the  sanctu- 
ary proper. 

If  indeed,  there  be  found  no  trace  of  the  fountain  of 
life  flowing  from  under  the  threshold  sanctuary  of  the 
gods  worshiped  by  the  aborigines  of  America,  such  a 
fountain  was  searched  for  in  this  land  by  Ponce  de 
Leon  and  his  followers. 

7.    TEMPLE   THRESHOLDS    IN    ISLANDS    OF    THE   SEA. 

There  is  a  certain  resemblance  in  the  plan  of  some 
of  the  temples  of  the  South  Sea  Islands  to  those  of 
Central  America.  A  stepped  pyramid  in  a  large  court 
was  the  central  shrine  ;  "  in  front  of  which  the  images 
were  kept,  and  the  altars  fixed."  l  In  both  cases  the 
altars  were  outside  of  the  shrine, — at  its  threshold,  as  it 
were.  A  method  of  sacrificing  was  by  bleeding  a  pig 
to  death  before  the  altar,  "  washing  the  carcass  with 
the  blood,  and  then  placing  it  in  a  crouching  position 
on  the  altar."2  An  uplifted  hand  was  one  of  the  sym- 
bols on  these  stepped  pyramid  shrines.3  The  temple 
foundation,  or  the  threshold  of  the  sacred  building, 
was  formerly  laid  in  human  blood.4 

A  recognition  of  the  threshold,  in  a  sacred  service, 
and  in  a  form   of  covenanting,  is  found  in  the  cere- 

1  Ellis's  Polynesian  Researches,  II.,  206.  2  Ibid.,  II.,  211  f. 

3  Ibid.,  II.,  207,  illustration.  4  Ibid.,  II.    212  f. 


THRESHOL  D  RITE  IN  MA  DA  GA  SCA  R.       1 49 

monies  of  circumcision  as  observed  in  Madagascar. 
This  rite  is  not  at  infancy,  as  among  the  Jews,  but  is 
at  the  threshold  of  young  manhood.  Its  period  is 
fixed  by  the  king,  who,  on  "  an  application  from  the 
parents  or  the  friends  of  any  number  of  children  in  a 
given  province,  appoints  a  time,  and  orders  the  ob- 
servance of  the  rite."  He  is  the  "  high-priest  on  this 
occasion."  The  rite  marks  the  transition  of  the  boy 
from  his  dependence  on  his  parents  to  his  personal  ser- 
vice of  the  king,  as  a  member  of  the  community. 

Holy  water  is  brought  from  a  distance  to  the  house 
of  the  master  of  ceremonies,  as  the  sanctuary  for  the 
occasion.  A  sheep  is  killed  immediately  before  this 
house,  and  the  boys  are  caused  to  step  across  its 
blood.  This  sacrifice  is  called  "  fahazza,"  or  "  causing 
fruitfulness,"  and  it  is  supposed  to  be  the  means  of 
causing  fruitfulness  in  all  the  women  who  obtain  a 
share  of  it. 

A  tree  is  planted  at  the  northeast  corner  of  the 
house,  and  a  lamp  is  fixed  on  it.  Honey  and  water 
are  poured  upon  the  tree,  and  the  boys  partake  of  this 
mixture.  The  next  day  the  persons  present  walk 
three  times  round  the  house,  with  various  ceremonies, 
and  then  stop  at  the  doorway.  The  rite  of  circum- 
cision is  performed  on  each  boy  as  he  sits  on  a  drum, 
at  "  the  threshold  of  the  door,"  held  firmly  by  several 
men.     The  knife  with  which  it  is  performed  is  pre- 


150  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

viously  dipped  in  the  blood  of  a  young  bullock,  an 
ear  of  which  is  slit  by  the  operator.  A  covenant  of 
fealty  to  the  king  is  entered  into  by  the  youth  on  this 
occasion.  Sacrifices  and  feasting  follow  this  cere- 
mony.1 

One  of  the  ancient  gods  of  Maui,  an  island  of 
Hawaii,  was  Keoroeva.  "  In  all  the  temples  dedicated 
to  its  worship,  the  image  was  placed  within  the  inner 
apartment,  on  the  left-hand  side  of  the  door  ;  and  im- 
mediately before  it  stood  the  altar,  on  which  the  offer- 
ings of  every  kind  were  usually  placed."2  The  altar 
was  at  the  doorway,  in  this  case,  as  so  generally  else- 
where. Tiha  was  a  female  idol,  as  Keoroeva  was  a 
male,  and  much  "the  same  homage  and  offerings" 
were  given  to  her  as  to  him.3 

In  Kohala,  one  of  the  large  divisions  of  Hawaii, 
stood  a  prominent  temple  called  Bukohola,  built  by 
King  Kamehameha,  at  the  time  of  his  conquest  of  the 
Sandwich  Islands.  "  At  the  south  end  of  this  great 
edifice  was  a  kind  of  inner  court,  which  might  be 
called  the  sanctum  sanctorum  of  the  temple,  where  the 
principal  idol  used  to  stand,  surrounded  by  a  number 
of  images  of  inferior  deities."  "On  the  outside,  near 
the  entrance  to  the  inner  court  [at  the  threshold  of  the 
sanctum  sanctomm~\  was  the  place  of  the  rere  [or  lele\ 

1  Ellis's  Hist,  of  Madagascar,  I.,  176-187. 
2  Ellis's  Through  Hawaii,  p.  73  f.  3  Ibid.,  p.  75. 


HA  WAIIAN  CITIES  OF  REFUGE.  I  5  I 

(altar),   on   which    human   and   other   sacrifices   were 
offered."  l 

Human  victims  were  ordinarily  slain  in  sacrifice 
outside  of  the  sanctuary  proper,  and  then  their  bodies, 
carefully  preserved  whole,  were  taken  within  to  be 
presented  to  the  idol.2 

There  were  Hawaiian  cities  of  refuge,  or  puhonuas, 
as  sanctuaries  for  guilty  fugitives.  A  thief,  or  a  mur- 
derer, might  be  pursued  to  the  very  gateway  of  one 
of  those  cities,  but  as  soon  as  he  crossed  the  threshold 
of  that  gate,  even  though  the  gate  were  open,  and  no 
barrier  hindered  pursuit,  he  was  safe,  as  at  the  city 
altar.  When  once  within  the  sacred  city,  the  fugi- 
tive's first  duty  was  to  present  himself  before  the  idol, 
and  return  thanks  for  his  protection.3  This  was  sub- 
stantially the  Hebrew  law  as  to  the  cities  of  refuge.4 
Safety  was  only  within  the  threshold. 

There  are  traces  of  the  primitive  idea  of  a  spring  of 
life-giving  waters  flowing  from  under  the  threshold  of 
the  goddess  of  life,  in  the  Islands  of  the  Sea.  Accord- 
ing to  the  myths  of  that  region,  Vari,  or  "  The-very- 
beginning  "  of  life  was  a  woman.     She  plucked  off  a 

1  Ellis's  Through  Hawaii,  p.  81  f. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  135  f- ;  also,  Isabella  Bird's  Six  Months  in  the  Sandwich 
Islands,  p.  196. 

3  Ellis's  Through  Hawaii,  p.  155  f-  See-  also.  Isabella  Bird's  Six 
Months  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  p.  135  f. 

*  Num.  35  :  6-32 ;  Deut.  4  :  41-43  ;  *9  :  I"I3  \  Josh-  2°  :  J~9- 


152  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

piece  of  her  right  side  and  it  became  a  man,  or  part 
man  and  part  fish,  known  as  Vatea,  or  Avatea.  From 
the  under-world  there  came  to  Vatea  a  supernatural 
woman  called  Papa,  or  Foundation.  From  this  union 
the  human  race  began.  Rongo  was  the  first-born  son. 
The  Hades  of  Polynesia  is  Avaika,  or  Hawaika.  In 
the  days  of  Rongo,  and  later,  there  was  an  opening 
from  earth  to  Avaika ;  but  because  of  the  misdoings 
of  the  denizens  of  that  realm,  coming  up  through  that 
passage-way,  Tiki,  a  lovely  woman,  a  descendant  of 
Rongo,  "  rolled  herself  alive  down  into  the  gloomy 
opening,  which  immediately  closed  upon  her."  She 
was  the  first  to  die.  And  now  "  Tiki  sits  at  the  thresh- 
old "  of  her  home  below,  to  welcome  the  descendants 
of  Rongo,  who  bring  her  an  offering.  A  sacred 
stream  of  water,  "  Vairorongo,"  comes  up  from  below 
into  the  sacred  grove  devoted  to  the  worship  of 
Rongo,  and  near  that  stream  it  is  possible  for  a  spirit 
to  be  returned  to  life  and  to  a  home  on  earth  again.1 

It  is  obvious  that  the  idea  of  the  sacredness  of  the 
threshold,  in  home,  in  temple,  or  in  sanctuary,  is  not 
of  any  one  time  or  of  any  one  people,  but  is  of  human 
nature  as  human  nature  everywhere.  It  shows  itself 
all  the  world  over,  and  always.  And  it  has  to  do  with 
life,  and  its  perpetuation  or  leproduction. 

1  Comp.  Gill's  Myths  and  Songs  from  the  South  Pacific,  pp.  3,  4,  7.  14. 
i8,  20,  26,  152,  155,  158,  160,  170  ;  also  Turner's  Samoa,  p.  259. 


B  UT  ONE  BEGINNING.  1 5  3 


8.    ONLY   ONE    FOUNDATION. 


An  idea  tangent  to,  rather  than  identical  with,  the 
thought  of  the  altar  sacredness  of  the  temple  thresh- 
old, as  found  among  primitive  peoples,  is  that  the  first 
temple  foundation  is  the  foundation  for  all  subsequent 
temple  building  at  that  place.  And  it  has  already 
been  shown  that  the  threshold,  or  hearthstone,  or 
corner-stone,  is  considered  the  foundation.1 

In  ancient  Babylonia  a  temple,  however  grand  and 
extensive,  was  supposed  to  be  built  on  the  foun- 
dation of  an  earlier  temple ;  the  one  threshold  being 
the  first  threshold  and  the  latest.  If,  indeed,  there 
was  a  variation  from  the  original  foundation  in  the 
construction  of  a  new  temple,  there  was  confusion  and 
imperfectness  in  consequence,  and  the  only  hope  of 
reformation  was  in  finding  the  first  temple  threshold 
and  rebuilding  on  it. 

There  is  an  illustration  of  this  in  an  inscription  dis- 
covered in  the  foundation  of  a  temple  at  "  Ur  of  the 
Chaldees."2  Nabonidus  (556-538  B.C.),  the  last  Baby- 
lonian king,  tells  with  interest  of  his  search  for  the 
old  foundation,  or  outline  plan,  of  the  ancient  temple, 
Eulbar,  or,  more  properly,  Eulmash,  of  the  goddess 
Istar  of  Agade,  as  follows  :3 

1  See  pp.  21-23,  45  f.,  55,  supra.  2  Gen.  11  :  28  ;  Neh.  9  :  7. 

3  Ravvlinson's  Inscript.  of  W.  Asia,  Vol.  I.,  pi.  69,  Col.  II.,  1.  29  ff. 


154  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

The  foundation  of  Eulmash  in  Agade  had  not  been 
found  from  Sargon,  king  of  Babylon  (3800  B.C.),  and 
Naram-Sin,  his  son,  kings  living  formerly,  until  the 
government  of  Nabuna'id  king  of  Babylon. 

King  Kurigalzu  (II.),  about  1300  B.C.,  had,  in  his 
reign,  searched  for  this  foundation,  but  had  failed  to 
find  it,  and  he  had  left  this  record  :  "  The  foundation 
of  Eulmash  I  sought,  but  did  not  find  it."  Later  on, 
Esarhaddon,  king  of  Assyria  and  Babylonia  (681- 
669  B.C.),  searched  for  it,  but  without  success.  Again, 
Nebuchadrezzar  (605-561  B.C.)  mobilized  his  large 
armies,  and  ordered  them  to  search  for  the  foundation 
stone,  or  threshold,  but  all  his  efforts  were  in  vain. 
Finally  Nabuna'id,  the  last  king  of  Babylon  before  its 
fall  under  Cyrus,  gathered  his  many  soldiers,  and 
ordered  them  to  search  for  the  foundation  stone.  For 
"  three  years  in  the  tracks  of  Nebuchadrezzar  king 
of  Babylon,"  says  Nabuna'id,  "  I  sought  right  and 
left,  before  and  behind,  but  did  not  find  it." 

Encouraged  by  a  prompting  from  the  moon-god 
Sin,  Nabuna'id  tried  at  another  time  and  in  another 
place,  and  this  time  with  success.  He  found  the  in- 
scription of  King  Shagarakti-Buriash  (1350  B.  C), 
which  tells  that  he  had  laid  a  new  foundation  exactly 
upon  the  old  one  of  King  Zabu  (about  2300  B.  C). 
Then  Nabuna'id  made  sure  to  preserve  the  exact  out- 
line of  the  old  shrine.     He  laid  the  foundation,  and 


HOL  Y  GR  O  UND  IN  EG  YPT.  1 5  5 

restored  the  ancient  temple,  so  that  "  it  did  not  deviate 
an  inch  to  the  outside  or  the  inside."  l 

There  are  indications  of  the  same  high  value  set 
upon  the  primal  foundation  of  a  temple  in  the  records 
of  ancient  Egypt.  A  temple  at  its  highest  grandeur 
is  in  the  location  of  a  prehistoric  sanctuary.  "  The 
site  on  which  it  is  built  is  generally  holy  ground?  that 
is,  a  spot  on  which  since  the  memory  of  man  an  older 
sanctuary  of  the  god  had  stood.  Even  those  Egyp- 
tian temples  which  seem  most  modern  have  usually  a 
long  history, — the  edifice  may  have  seemed  very  in- 
significant, but  as  the  prestige  of  the  god  increased 
larger  buildings  were  erected,  which  again,  in  the 
course  of  centuries,  were  enlarged  and  rebuilt  in  such 
a  way  that  the  original  plan  could  no  longer  be  traced. 
This  is  the  history  of  nearly  all  Egyptian  temples,  and 
explains  the  fact  that  we  know  so  little  of  the  temples 
of  the  Old  and  of  the  Middle  Empire  ;  they  have  all 
been  metamorphosed  into  the  vast  buildings  of  the 
New  Empire."  3 

While  early  Vedic  and  Brahmanic  religion  makes 
no  mention  of  temples  as  such,  fire  from  an  ancestral 
altar  was  borne  to  a  newly  erected  altar,  in  order  to 
secure  a  continuance  of  the  sacred  influences  issuing 

1  See  Hilprecht's  Assyriaca,  pp.  54,  55.  97- 

2  Inscription  in  the  temple  of  Rameses  III.  at  Karnak. 

3  Erman's  Life  in  Ancient  Egypt,  p.  279. 


156  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

from  that  original  family  threshold.1  And  Vishnoo- 
ism  takes  old  temples  from  Booddhism  for  its  centers 
of  worship,  prizing  the  old  sacred  foundation. 

"Buddha-Gaya,"  or  "  Bodhi-Gaya,"  in  Upper  India, 
is  famous  as  the  locality  of  the  holy  pipal  tree,  or  the 
Booddha-drum  ("  Tree  of  Knowledge  "),  under  which 
for  six  years  sat  Sakya  Sinha,  in  meditation,  before  he 
attained  to  Booddha-hood.  A  temple  still  standing  on 
that  site  is  supposed  to  have  been  rebuilt  A.  D.  1306, 
on  the  remains  of  one  visited  by  Hwen  Thsang,  a 
Chinese  traveler,  in  the  seventh  century  of  our  era, 
which,  in  turn,  had  been  built  by  Amara  Sinha,  or 
Amara  Deva,  about  A.  D.  500.  This  earlier  temple  is 
said  to  have  been  built  by  a  command  of  Booddha 
himself  conveyed  in  a  vision,  or  by  a  command  of  the 
Brahmanical  Mahadeva,  on  the  site  of  a  still  earlier 
sanctuary,  or  monastery,  erected  by  Asoka  between 
259  and  241  B.C.,  on  the  site  of  Booddha's  medita- 
tions, about  300  B.  C.2  The  existing  temple  has  been 
called  at  different  times  "  Buddha-pad  "  and  "  Vishnu- 
pad,"  "  Booddha's  foot"  and  "  Vishnoo's  foot." 

Kuru-Kshetra,  or  the  "Plain  of  Kuru,"  near  Delhi, 
India,  has  been  deemed  holy  ground  from  time  imme- 

1  See  "  Grihya-Sutras,"  in  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  XXX.,  193-201  ; 
also  De  Coulange's  Ancient  City,  pp.  36,  47  f. 

2  See  Julien's  Memoires  de  Hionen-Thsang,  I.,  459-466;  Cunningham's 
Arch&ological  Survey  0/  India,  I.,  1-12;  Sir  Monier  Monier-Williams's 
Buddhism,  pp.  390-401. 


HOL  Y  GROUND  IN  INDIA.  I  5 7 

morial.  At  Thavesar,  on  this  plain,  a  temple  of  Siva 
was  built  on  a  site  that  was  sacred  long  before  Siva- 
ism  was  known.  It  is  even  believed  that  the  sacred- 
ness  of  this  site  runs  back  to  the  ancient  times  of  the 
Rig  Veda.  The  boundaries  of  this  "  Holy  Land  "  are 
given  in  the  great  Hindoo  epic,  the  Maha.bharata. 
This  plain  is  said  to  comprise  three  hundred  and 
sixty  holy  shrines,  each  of  which  is  erected  on  a  foun- 
dation sacred  from  the  times  of  the  gods  themselves.1 

So  general,  in  India,  is  this  habit  of  building  a  sanc- 
tuary on  an  old  sacred  foundation,  that  it  is  said  that 
"the  erection  of  a  mosk  by  a  Muhammadan  conqueror 
always  implies  the  previous  destruction  of  a  Hindu 
temple."  2  Thus  a  mosk  erected  by  the  emperor 
Altamash,  A.  D.  1232,  is  supposed  to  have  been  on  the 
foundation  of  a  temple  of  the  sun,  built  for  Raja 
Pasupati  about  A.  D.  300.3  Not  a  new  foundation, 
but  an  old  one,  was  sought,  in  India,  for  a  new  tem- 
ple, even  to  a  god  newly  worshiped  there. 

Fourteen  centuries  before  Christ,  Pan-Kang,  an  em- 
peror of  China,  moved  his  capital  from  north  of  the 
Ho  to  south  of  it  because  he  had  ascertained  that  the 
original  foundation  was  attempted  to  be  laid  there  by 
his  ancestor  Thang  in  the  Shing  dynasty,  seventeen 
reigns  before  him  ;  hence  the  removal  back  to  that 

1  Cunningham's  Archceological  Survey  of  India,  II.,  212,  213. 
2  Ibid.,  II.,  353  f.  3  Ibld. 


158  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

first  foundation  would  renew  the  blessing  of  Thang 
upon  his  descendants.1 

A  temple  has  added  sacredness  in  China  according 
as  its  foundation  is  on  a  spot  originally  chosen  or 
honored  by  a  representative  of  Heaven  as  a  threshold 
of  a  place  of  worship.  Thus  Tai  Shan,  or  the  "  Great 
Mount,"  in  the  province  of  Shantung,  China,  is  men- 
tioned in  the  Shoo  King,  or  Book  of  Records,  as  the 
site  of  the  great  Emperor  Shun's  altar  of  sacrifice  to 
Heaven,  2254  B.  C,  or,  say,  three  centuries  before  the 
time  of  Abraham.  On  this  holy  mountain,  as  the 
earliest  historic  foundation  of  Chinese  worship,  "  is 
the  great  rendezvous  of  devotees,  every  sect  has  there 
its  temples  and  idols,  scattered  up  and  down  its 
sides ;  "  and  great  multitudes  come  thither  to  worship 
from  near  and  far.2 

This  idea  shows  itself  in  modern  discoveries  among 
the  ruins  of  ancient  Greece.  It  appears  that  when 
Pericles  (437  B.C.)  began  his  building  of  the  new 
Propylaea  on  the  Acropolis,  he  would  have  cleared 
away  the  remains  of  such  ancient  sacred  structures  as 
stood  within  its  outline.  "The  plan  of  Mnesikles  the 
architect  was  very  simple,  and  is  still  clear  enough, 
though  it  was  never  fully  carried  out."  "  That  the 
original  plan  of  Mnesikles  had  undergone  modifica- 

1  "The  Shih  King,''  Bk.  7,  §  3,  in  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  III.,  m. 
2  Williams's  Middle  Kingdom,  I.,  90  1. 


OLD  FO  UN  DA  TIONS  IN  GREECE.  1 5  9 

tions  was  long  ago  seen  by  every  architect  who  made 
the  Propyls^  matter  of  serious  study."  Dr.  Dorpfeld 
thinks  he  has  discovered  how  the  plan  was  modified, 
and  why.  The  enforced  departure  from  the  original 
plan  seems  to  have  been  because  that  plan  involved 
the  destruction  of  shrines  on  an  earlier  foundation, 
with  a  threshold  that  might  not  be  moved.  The  gate 
of  Cimon,  with  its  "  statue  of  some  guardian  god  of 
the  gate, — it  may  be  Hermes  Propylaios  himself," — 
was  within  that  outline,  and  also  other  sacred  sites. 

"Against  such  intrusion  it  is  very  likely  the  priest- 
hood rose  and  protested,  and,  before  even  the  founda- 
tions were  laid,  he  had  to  give  up,  at  least  for  the 
time,  the  whole  of  the  southeast  hall,  and  a  part  of 
the  southwest  wing."  This  conclusion  is  the  result 
of  recent  investigation  by  careful  scholars,  and  it  is  in 
accordance  with  the  ascertained  fact  that  in  primitive 
thought  an  original  foundation  for  a  temple  or  shrine 
is  counted  sacred  for  all  time  as  the  foundation  there 
for  such  a  place  of  worship,  not  to  be  swept  away  or 
ignored  in  any  rebuilding  or  new  building.1 

When  from  any  reason,  in  early  Europe,  an  ancient 
shrine  must  be  removed  from  its  primitive  foundation, 
it  was  deemed  desirable  to  remove  to  the  new  site  a 
portion  of  the  foundation  itself,  as  well  as  the  sanc- 
tuary or  altar  above  that  foundation.     Thus,  for  ex- 

1  Harrison  and  Verrall's  Myth,  and  Monu.  of  Anc.  Athens,  pp.  353-36i- 


l6o  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

ample,  when  Thorolf  of  Norway,  who  had  charge  of 
the  temple  of  Thor  in  Mostur,  removed  to  Iceland  in 
A.  D.  833,  he  took  with  him  the  temple  posts  and 
furniture  "  and  the  very  earth  on  which  the  altar  of 
that  idol  had  been  erected."  And  when  he  landed  in 
Iceland,  Thorolf  built  a  new  temple  of  Thor,  with  an 
altar  on  the  foundation  which  he  had  brought  from 
the  earlier  shrine.  A  thousand  years  after  this  the 
foundation-site  of  that  second  temple  was  still  pointed 
out  near  Hofstad,  in  Iceland.1 

Bible  language  and  narrative  abound  with  incidental 
evidence  of  the  commonness  of  this  primitive  idea. 
When  Jacob,  on  his  way  to  Haran,  came  to  Beth-el — 
a  House  of  God— he  lighted  on  "  the  place  "  (ham- 
maqdni)  where,2  long  before,  his  ancestor  Abraham  had 
worshiped,  as  he  came  from  Egypt  by  way  of  the 
Negeb.3  And  yet  earlier  Abraham  himself,  as  he 
came  a  pilgrim  from  Haran  and  Ur,  had  there 
"  builded  an  altar  unto  the  Lord,  and  called  upon 
the  name  of  the  Lord."4  And  if  that  place  were 
already  known  as  Beth-el  it  must  have  been  a  sanc- 
tuary before  Abraham's  day. 

Moses,  in  the  wilderness  of  Sinai,  is  told  that  the 
ground  whereon  he  stands  is  "  holy  ground,"  and  that 
he  is  to  bring  the  Hebrews  out  of  Egypt  to  worship 

1  Henderson's  Iceland,  II.,  64-67;  also  ibid.,  I.,  xiv. 
2  Gen.  28  :  10-22.  3  Ibid.,  13  :  *"3-  *  Ibid->  I2  :  I_S- 


SACRED  SITE  IN  JERUSALEM.  l6l 

God  in  that  mountain.1  And  the  Egyptian  records 
give  reason  for  supposing  that  that  region  of  Mt. 
Sinai,  perhaps  of  the  moon-god  "  Sin,"  was  known  as 
holy  ground,  and  as  the  "  land  of  God,"  or  of  the 
gods,  before  the  days  of  Moses.2 

At  Jerusalem  the  Temple  was  built  on  Mt.  Mo- 
riah,  where  the  ark  of  the  covenant  rested  after  its 
return  from  Philistia,3and  where  David  erected  an  altar 
to  the  Lord  after  the  staying  of  the  pestilence  from 
Israel.4  And  it  is  supposed  that  this  same  Mt.  Mo- 
riah  was  where  Abraham  offered  a  sacrifice  to  God 
on  an  altar  he  had  built  for  the  sacrifice  of  his  son.5 
And  this  site  of  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem  is  held  sa- 
cred to-day,  in  view  of  its  being  deemed  by  multitudes 
a  holy  place  from  the  beginning  of  the  world.6 

When  Naaman  the  Syrian  was  healed  of  leprosy  by 
Elisha,  the  prophet  of  Israel,  he  desired  thenceforth 
to  worship  Jehovah  in  his  Syrian  home.  To  this  end 
he  asked  of  Elisha  the  gift  of  "  two  mules'  burden  of 
earth  "  from  Samaria,  in  order  that  he  might  on  that 
sacred  foundation  erect  in  Syria  an  altar  to  Jehovah.7 

In  a  prophecy  of  the  Messiah  as  the  foundation,  or 
threshold,  of  a  new  temple,  it  was   declared  by  the 

1  Exod.  3  :  1-12.  2  Brugsch's  Egypt  under  the  Pharaohs,  I.,  411. 

3  2  Sam.  6  :  1-19.  *  Bid.,  24  :  15-25.  5  Gen.  22  :  1-13. 

6  As  evidenced  in  the  traditional  claim  that  the  grave  of  Adam  was 
under  the  cross. 

7  2  Kings  5  :  17. 
II 


1 62  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

Lord :  "  Behold,  I  lay  [or,  I  have  laid]  in  Zion  for  a 
foundation  a  stone,  a  tried  stone,  a  precious  corner- 
stone of  sure  foundation."  *  Again,  it  was  the  promise 
of  God  to  the  Israelites  that  they  should  be  restorers 
of  worship  on  former  foundations.  "  They  that  shall 
be  of  thee  shall  build  the  old  waste  places  :  thou  shalt 
raise  up  the  foundations  of  many  generations  ;  and 
thou  shalt  be  called  The  repairer  of  the  breach,  The 
restorer  of  paths  to  dwell  in."2 

New  Testament  phraseology  makes  frequent  refer- 
ence to  this  same  idea.  "  According  to  the  grace 
which  was  given  unto  me,  as  a  wise  master-builder,  I 
laid  a  foundation,"  says  Paul.  "  But  let  each  man 
take  heed  how  he  buildeth  thereon.  For  other  foun- 
dation can  no  man  lay  than  that  is  laid,  which  is 
Christ  Jesus."  3  The  Christian  saints  of  the  "  house- 
hold of  God,"  as  "living  stones,"4  are  "built  upon 
the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and  prophets,  Christ 
Jesus  himself  being  the  chief  corner  stone  ;  in  whom 
each  several  building,  fitly  framed  together,  groweth 
into  a  holy  temple  in  the  Lord."5 

Muhammadanism,  which  shows  many  survivals  of 
primitive  ideas  and  primitive  customs,  emphasizes  the 
importance  of  the  first  foundation  as  the  only  founda- 
tion, in  the  traditions  and  legends  of  the  holy  places 

1  Isa.  28  :  16 ;   1  Pet.  2:6.  2  Isa.  58  :  12. 

3  1  Cor.  3  :  io,  11.  *  1  Pet.  2:5.  5  Eph.  2  :  20,  21. 


KA'BAH  BUILT  BY  ADAM.  163 

of  its  most  sacred  city.  Every  masjid,  or  "  place  of 
prostration,"  in  that  vicinity  is  on  a  site  counted  holy 
long  centuries  before  the  days  of  the  Prophet  of  Islam. 

The  Ka'bah,  or  Holy  House,  in  the  mosk  at  Mec- 
cah  is  said  to  have  been  built  by  Adam  himself,  on 
the  model  of  a  similar  structure  in  heaven.  It  would 
seem  as  if  no  earthly  foundation,  or  threshold,  could 
have  been  earlier  than  that;  indeed,  the  Quran  de- 
clares: "The  first  house  appointed  unto  men  to  wor- 
ship in  was  that  which  was  in  Beccah  [or  Meccah]  ;  "  1 
yet  there  is  a  tradition  that  Adam  erected  a  place  of 
prayer  even  before  he  built  the  Ka'bah.  In  the  Deluee 
the  Holy  House  was  destroyed;  but  Abraham  was 
directed  to  rebuild  it,  and  on  digging  beneath  the  sur- 
face of  its  site  he  discovered  the  original  foundation, 
and  the  Ka'bah  was  newly  built  up  on  that. 

According  to  Muhammadan  traditions,  it  was  while 
Hagar  was  near  the  site  of  the  Holy  House,  with  her 
famishing  son  Ishmael,  that  a  spring  of  water  gushed 
forth  with  its  life-giving  stream  from  beneath  that 
holy  site.  And  that  spring  is  the  well  Zemzem,  or 
Zamzam,  whose  waters  are  deemed  sacred  and  life- 
giving  to-day. 

Mount  Arafat,  a  holy  hill  near  Meccah,  is  another 
place  of  pilgrimage,  and  its  sacredness  dates  from  even 
an  earlier  day  than  the  laying  of  the  first  foundation 

1  Sura  3  :  90. 


1 64  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

of  the  Holy  House  at  Meccah  by  Adam.  When  our 
first  parents  were  cast  out  of  their  heavenly  paradise, 
Adam  lighted  in  Ceylon,  and  Eve  in  Arabia.  Seeking 
each  other,  they  met  on  Mount  Arafat,  or  the  Mount 
of  Recognition,  and  therefore  that  spot  of  their  re- 
union and  new  covenanting  is  a  place  of  pilgrimage 
and  worship  for  the  faithful  of  all  the  world  at  this 
time.1  Adam  is  said  to  have  built  a  madaay  a  place  of 
prayer,  on  Mount  Arafat,  before  he  built  the  Ka'bah.2 
The  religion  of  Islam  thus  teaches  its  subjects  to  wor- 
ship at  the  earliest  threshold  laid  by  our  first  parents 
in  their  primal  covenanting,  and  all  other  religions 
recognize  the  importance  of  a  similar  idea. 

1  See  Sale's  Koran,  "  Preliminary  Discourse,''  Sect.  IV. ;  Burton's  Pil- 
grimage to  El-Medinah  and  Meccah,  III.,  149-222;  Hughes's  Dictionary 
of  Islam,  s.  vv.  "Abraham,"  "Adam,"  "Arafat,"  "  Hagar,"  "  Ishmael," 
"  Ka'bah,"  "  Masjidu  '1-Haram,"  "  Zamzam  ; ''  Sprenger's  Life  of  Moham- 
mad, pp.  46-62;  Muir's  Mahomet  and  Islam,  pp.  12-17,  215-219. 

2  Burton's  Pilgrimage,  III.,  260. 


III. 

SACRED  BOUNDARY  LINE. 


I.    FROM    TEMPLE   TO    DOMAIN. 

Man's  first  dwelling-place  was  the  cave,  or  the  tent, 
or  the  hut,  in  which  he  made  a  home  with  his  family. 
The  threshold  and  hearth  of  that  dwelling-place  was 
the  boundary  of  his  earthly  possessions.  It  was  the 
sacred  border  or  limit  of  the  portion  of  the  earth's  sur- 
face over  which  he  claimed  control,  and  where  he  and 
his  were  under  the  special  protection  of  the  deity  with 
whom  he  was  in  covenant.  Therefore  the  threshold 
hearth  was  hallowed  as  a  place  of  covenant  worship. 

As  families  were  formed  into  tribes  and  communi- 
ties, they  came  to  have  a  common  ruler  or  priest,  and 
his  dwelling-place  was  counted  by  all  as  the  common 
center  of  covenant  with  their  common  deity;  and 
when  they  would  worship  that  deity  there,  they  wor- 
shiped at  the  threshold  altar  of  his  sanctuary.  So  it 
was  that  the  threshold  was  the  place  of  the  hearth- 
fire  and  altar,  in  both  house  and  temple. 

165 


1 66  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

When  man  acquired  property  rights  beyond  his 
dwelling-place,  and  communities  and  peoples  gained 
control  over  portions  of  country  more  or  less  exten- 
sive, the  boundary  limits  of  their  possessions  were 
extended,  but  were  no  less  real  and  positive  than 
before.  The  protecting  deity  of  the  region  thus 
bounded  was  recognized  as  having  sway  in  that  do- 
main ;  and  those  who  were  dwellers  there  were  in 
covenant  relations  with  him.  Therefore  it  was  that 
the  boundary  line  of  such  domain  was  deemed  its 
threshold,  and  as  such  was  held  sacred  as  a  place 
of  worship  and  of  sacrifice. 

2.    LOCAL  LANDMARKS. 

A  private  landmark  was  a  sacred  boundary,  and 
was  a  threshold  altar  for  its  possessor.  To  remove 
or  to  disregard  such  a  local  threshold,  was  an  offense 
not  only  against  its  owner,  but  against  the  deity  in 
whose  name  it  had  been  set  up. 

Among  the  earliest  remains  from  unearthed  Baby- 
lonia are  local  landmarks,  or  threshold  boundary 
stones,  inscribed,  severally,  with  a  dedication  and  an 
appeal  to  the  deity  honored  by  him  who  erected  the 
stone.  These  local  landmarks  were  ordinarily  in  the 
form  of  a  phallus;  as  phallic  forms  were  numerous 
under    Babylonian    temple  thresholds.      Among   the 


A  BABYLONIAN  CURSE.  1 67 

records  of  those  peoples  are  writings,  showing  the 
importance  attached  to  such  threshold  stones,  in 
the  contracts  accompanying  their  setting  up,  and  in 
the  sacred  ceremonies  on  that  occasion. 

Illustrations  of  the  importance  attached  by  the 
ancient  Babylonians  to  a  boundary  stone,  or  thresh- 
old landmark,  are  found  in  the  records  of  the  impre- 
cations inscribed  on  these  phallic  pillars,  as  directed 
against  the  violator  of  their  sacredness.1  For  example, 
a  Babylonian,  Sir-usur  ["  O  snake-god  protect  "],  a 
descendant  of  the  house  of  Habban,  presented  a  valu- 
able tract  of  land  to  his  daughter  on  her  betrothal  to 
Tabashap-Marduk.  The  withering  curse  inscribed  on 
the  conventional  boundary-stone  pillar  is  as  follows : 

"  For  all  future  time:  Whosoever,  of  the  brothers, 
sons,  family,  relatives,  descendants,  servants  purchased 
or  house-born,  of  the  house  of  Habban,  be  he  a  prefect, 
or  an  overseer,  or  anybody  else,  shall  rise  and  stand 
up  to  take  this  field  away,  or  to  remove  this  boundary 
stone,  and  causes  this  field  to  be  presented  to  a  god, 
or  sends  some  one  to  take  it  away  [for  the  state], 
or  brings  it  into  his  own  possession  ;  who  changes  the 
area,  the  limit,  or  the  boundary  stone,  divides  it  into 
pieces,  or  takes  a  piece  from  it,  saying,  '  The    field 

1  See,  for  example,  Rawlinson's  Cuneiform  Inscriptions  of  Western 
Asia,  III.,  41,  43  ;  IV.,  41  ;  Hilprecht's  Freibrief  Nebukadnezar  s,  I.,  col. 
II.,  26-60;    Beitraege  zur  Assyriologie,   II.,  165-203,  258  ff. 


1 68  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

and  mulugi l  have  not  been  presented  ;  '  or  who  on 
account  of  the  dire  curse  [written]  on  this  boundary 
stone,  sends  a  fool,  a  deaf  man,  a  blind  man,  a  reckless 
man,  an  enemy,  an  alien,  an  ignorant  man,  and  causes 
this  inscribed  stone  to  be  removed,  throws  it  into  the 
water,  hides  it  in  the  earth,  crushes  it  with  a  stone, 
burns  it  with  fire,  effaces  it  and  writes  something  else 
on  it,  or  puts  it  into  a  place  where  nobody  can  see  it, 
— upon  this  man  may  the  great  gods  Ami,  Bel,  Ea, 
and  Nusku,  look  wrathfully,  uproot  his  foundation, 
and  destroy  his  offspring.     May   Marduk,  the  great 
lord,  cause  him  to  carry  dropsy  as  an  ever-entangling 
net ;  may  Shamash  the  judge,  greatest  of  heaven  and 
earth,  decide   all    his    lawsuits,    standing   relentlessly 
against  him  ;    may  Sin,  the  light  dwelling  in  the  bril- 
liant heavens,  cover  him  with  leprosy  as  a  garment ; 
like  a  wild  ass  may  he  lie  down  at  the  wall  surround- 
ing his  city;  may  Ishtar,  mistress  of  heaven  and  earth, 
lead  him  into  evil  daily  before  the  god  and  the  king ; 
may  Ninib,  born  in  the  temple  Ekura,  the  sublime 
son  of  Bel,  uproot  his  area,  his  limit,  and  his  boun- 
dary stone;  may  Gula,  the  great  physician,  consort  of 
the  god  Ninib,  put  never-ceasing  poison  into  his  body 
till  he  urinates  blood  and  pus  like  water;  may  Ram- 
man,  first  of  heaven  and  earth,  the  strong  son  of  the 
god  Anu,  inundate   his   field,  and  destroy  the   corn, 

1  An  unknown  product  of  the  field. 


LANDMARKS  IN  INDIA.  169 

that  thorns  may  shoot  up,  and  may  his  feet  tread 
down  vegetation  and  pasturage;  may  Nabu,  the  sub- 
lime messenger,  bring  want  and  famine  upon  him, 
and  whatsoever  he  desires  for  the  hole  of  his  mouth 
may  he  not  obtain ;  and  may  the  great  gods,  as  many 
names  as  are  mentioned  on  this  inscribed  stone,  curse 
him  with  a  dire  curse  that  cannot  be  removed,  and 
destroy  his  seed  for  ever  and  ever."  1 

Prominence  is  given,  in  the  ancient  laws  of  India,  to 
the  manner  in  which  disputed  boundaries  between 
villages,  and  between  land  owners,  shall  be  settled; 
and  it  is  made  evident  that  a  peculiar  sacredness 
attaches  to  these  landmarks.  The  king  was  to  decide 
the  dispute,  after  hearing  testimony  and  examining 
evidence.  Trees,  and  mounds,  or  heaps  of  earth, 
were  preferred  as  landmarks;  and  tanks,  wells,  cis- 
terns, and  fountains,  as  also  temples,  were  desired  on 
boundary  lines.2 

Emphasis  was  laid  on  the  sacredness  of  the  local 
landmark,  in  the  laws  of  the  Hebrews ;  and  a  curse 
was  pronounced  against  him  who  dared  remove  this 
threshold  altar.     "Thou  shalt  not  remove  thy  neigh- 

1  From  the  Michaux  Stone,  columns  II.-IV.  in  Rawlinson's  Cuneiform 
Inscriptions  of  Western  Asia,  I.,  pi.  70;  translated  for  this  work  by  Prof. 
Dr.  H.  V.  Hilprecht.  See  illustrations  in  Maspero's  Dawn  of  Civilization, 
pp.  762,  763.     See  Sayce's  Religion  of  the  Ancient  Babylonians,  p.  308. 

2  Biihler's  "  Laws  of  Manu,"  in  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  XXV.,  298, 
301. 


I/O  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

bor's  landmark,  which  they  of  old  time  have  set,  in 
thine  inheritance  which  thou  shalt  inherit,  in  the  land 
that  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee,"  was  an  injunc- 
tion in  the  fundamental  law  of  the  Promised  Land.1 
And  it  passed  into  a  proverb  of  duty :  "  Remove  not 
the  ancient  landmark,  which  thy  fathers  have  set."2 
It  was  a  reproach  to  a  people  that  there  were  those 
amono-  them  who  would  "  remove  the  landmarks " 
and  disregard  sacred  property  rights.3  And  among 
the  curses  which  were  to  be  spoken  from  the  sum- 
mit of  Ebal,  when  Israel  took  possession  of  Canaan, 
was  this  :  "  Cursed  be  he  that  removeth  his  neighbor's 
landmark.  And,"  it  was  added,  "all  the  people  shall 
say,  Amen."  4 

Abraham  and  Abimelech  found  that  their  followers 
were  quarreling  over  the  boundary  line  between  their 
respective  domains  on  the  borders  of  the  Negeb. 
Abraham  claimed  the  well  at  Beer-sheba  as  his  by 
right,  but  the  servants  of  Abimelech  forcibly  took  pos- 
session of  it.  So  the  two  chieftains  met  and  agreed 
upon  a  border  line,  and  made  a  covenant  with  ac- 
companying sacrifices.  "And  Abraham  planted  a 
tamarisk  tree  in  Beer-sheba  "  as  his  border  landmark, 
"and  called  there  on  the  name  of  the  Lord,  the  Ever- 
lasting God."  5      Border  landmarks  were  in  the  form 

i  Deut.  19  :  14.  2  Prov.  22  :  28  ;  23  :  10. 

3  Job  24  :  2.  4  Deut.  27  :  17.  5  Gen.  21  :  22-33. 


GA  LEED  A  ND  MIZPA  H.  I  /  I 

of  a  pillar,  a  tree,  a  heap,  or  a  stele,  in  Oriental  coun- 
tries generally. 

When  Jacob  and  Laban  agreed  to  part  in  peace 
after  their  stormy  meeting  in  Gilead,  they  set  up  a 
heap  of  stones  and  a  stone  pillar  as  a  monument  of 
witness  of  their  mutual  covenant,  and  as  a  landmark 
of  their  agreed  territorial  boundary.  This  memorial 
of  their  covenant  was  called  "  Galeed,"  or  "  Witness 
Heap,"  and  "  Mizpah,"  or  "  Watch  Tower."  "  And 
Laban  said  to  Jacob,  Behold  this  heap,  and  behold  the 
pillar,  which  I  have  set  betwixt  me  and  thee.  This 
heap  be  witness,  and  the  pillar  be  witness,  that  I  will  not 
pass  over  this  heap  to  thee,  and  that  thou  shalt  not  pass 
over  this  heap  and  this  pillar  unto  me,  for  harm.  The 
God  of  Abraham,  and  the  God  of  Nahor,  the  God  [or, 
gods]  of  their  father,  judge  betwixt  us."1  The  new 
boundary  mark  was  a  token  of  a  sacred  covenant. 

In  classic  literature  and  customs  the  sacred  boun- 
dary landmark  is  prominent  as  devoted  to,  or  as  repre- 
senting, various  deities,  at  different  times.  Zeus  and 
Hermes  among  the  Greeks  ;  Jupiter,  Mercury,  Sil- 
vanus,  and  Terminus,  among  the  Romans,  are  some- 
times interchangeably  referred  to  in  this  connection. 
The  legends  and  symbols  employed  seem  to  indicate 
that  life  and  its  transmission  took  their  start  at  the 
threshold  boundary,  and  therefore  a  pillar  or  a  phallus 

i  Gen.  31  :  43-53. 


172  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

marked  every   new  beginning   along   a   road  or  at  a 
territorial  boundary. 

An  image  of  Zeus,  or  Jupiter,  was  sometimes  em- 
ployed as  a  boundary  landmark,  and  an  image  of 
Hermes,  or  Mercury,  was  at  the  starting-point  of  a 
road,  and  again  at  various  points  along  the  road. 
Zeus,  or  Jupiter,  was  chief  of  gods  as  the  arbiter  of 
life.  Hermes,  or  Mercury,  was  earliest  known  as  the 
fertilizing  god  of  earth,  and  hence  was  the  promoter 
of  all  forms  of  life,  as  guardian  of  flocks,  fish,  fields, 
and  fruits.  He  also  guarded  those  who  went  out 
from  the  threshold.  Sacrifices  were  offered  to  him  by 
Athenian  generals  as  they  started  on  their  expeditions. 
He  was  even  spoken  of  as  the  inventor  of  sacrifices 
and  the  promoter  of  commerce  and  of  enrichment.1 

Of  Terminus,  Ovid  says :  "  When  the  night  shall 
have  passed  away  [and  the  threshold  of  a  new  day  is 
to  be  crossed],  let  the  god  who  by  his  landmark 
divides  the  fields  be  worshiped  with  the  accustomed 
honors.  Terminus,2  whether  thou  art  a  stone,  or 
whether  a  stock  sunk  deep  in  the  field  by  the  ancients, 

1  See  Smith's  Classical  Dictionary,  and  Keightley's  Class.  Diet.,  s.  vv. 
"Hermes,"  "Jupiter,'*  "Mercury,"  "  Silvanus,"  "  Terminus,"  "  Zeus." 
Comp.  Stengel's  Die  griechischen  Sacralalterthum.  in  Iwan  v.  Miiller's 
Handbuch  der  Klassischen  Alterthnmswissenschaft,  V.,  part  3,  p.  13; 
K.  F.  Hermann's  Lehrbuch  der  gottesdienstlichen  Alterth'umer  der  Crie- 
chen,  pp.  73,  108,  note  2. 

2  "  This  god  was  represented  by  a  stone  or  a  stump,  and  not  with  human 
features."     This  would  seem  to  have  been  a  rude  phallic  form. 


ROMAN  BOUNDAR  Y  STONES.  1 73 

yet  even  in  this  form  thou  dost  possess  divinity." l 
This  symbol  of  Terminus  was  regularly  "  sprinkled 
with  the  blood  of  a  slain  lamb,"  in  recognition  of  its 
sacredness. 

It  is  said  that  Numa,  the  second  king  of  Rome,  who 
was  revered  by  the  Romans  as  the  author  of  their 
whole  system  of  religious  worship,  directed  that  every 
one  should  mark  the  boundaries  of  his  landed  property 
by  stones  consecrated  to  Jupiter,  and  that  yearly  sacri- 
fices should  be  offered  at  these  boundary  stones,  at 
the  festival  of  the  Terminalia.2  At  this  festival  the 
two  owners  of  adjacent  property  crowned  the  statue 
or  stone  pillar  with  garlands,  and  raised  a  rude  altar, 
on  which  they  offered  up  corn,  honeycombs,  and 
wine,  and  sacrificed  a  lamb  or  a  sucking  pig,  with 
accompanying  praises  to  the  god.3 

Silvanus  also  was  a  god  of  the  boundary.  He  was 
represented  by  a  tree  grove,  as  Terminus  was  by  a 
pillar,  and  offerings  of  fruit,  grain,  and  milk,  and  of 
pigs,  were  made  to  him.  When  he  would  be  guarded 
against  as  a  source  of  evil  in  a  home,  the  protectors 
of  the  inmates  would  perform  certain  ceremonies  at 
the  threshold  of  the  house. 

A  tree,  and  sometimes  a  grove,  was  the  sacred  land- 

i  Ovid's  Fasti,  Bk.  II.,  vs.  641  ff. 

2  Smith's  Classical  Dictionary,  s.  vv.  "  Numa,"  "  Terminus." 

3  Smith's  Diet,  of  Greek  and  Rom.  Antiq.,  s.  v.  "  Terminalia." 


174  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

mark  of  a  village  boundary  in  primitive  lands.  Such 
trees  and  groves  are  still  to  be  found  in  Equatorial 
Africa.  Describing  some  of  these  in  Zinga  and  its 
vicinity,  Stanley  expresses  surprise  that  they  have  so 
long  remained  untouched  in  "  a  country  left  to  the 
haphazard  care  of  patriarchal  chiefs  ignorant  of  writ- 
ten laws."  l  But  reverence  for  a  threshold  landmark 
seems  to  be  in  the  very  nature  of  a  primitive  people, 
as  truly  as  any  primitive  sentiment ;  and  sentiment  is 
in  itself  a  dominant  law. 

At  the  boundary  line  between  two  villages  in  Samoa, 
in  olden  time,  there  were  two  stones  said  to  have 
been  two  living  beings.  When  any  quarrel  arose, 
those  engaged  in  it  were  told,  "  Go  and  settle  it  at  the 
stones ; "  and  they  went  to  those  boundary  line  stones 
and  fought  out  their  contest.2 

Trees  and  stone  pillars  are  still  known  as  boundary 
landmarks  between  parishes  and  townships  in  Europe 
and  America,  as  in  Asia,  Africa,  and  Polynesia  in  more 
primitive  days;  and  their  importance  is  recognized  as 
peculiar,  even  if  not  always  absolutely  sacred.  The 
annual  custom  of  "  beating  the  bounds  "  of  a  parish 
by  the  parish  authorities  survives  in  some  parts  of 
England  to-day.  A  procession  makes  the  circuit  of 
the  parish  boundary,  under  the  care  of  a  "  select 
vestryman,"  or  other  parish  official,  halting  at  every 

1  Stanley's  Congo,  I.,  3lS-3^7-  2  Turner's  Samoa,  p.  45  f. 


BE  A  TING  THE  B  O  UNDS.  1 7  5 

landmark  to  identify  it  and  carefully  to  observe  its 
location. 

In  former  times  it  was  customary  to  take  the  boys 
of  the  parish  on  this  round,  and  beat  them  at  every 
landmark,  in  order  to  impress  upon  their  memories  its 
precise  position.  More  recently  the  boys  are  per- 
mitted to  carry  willow  wands  peeled  white,  and  with 
these  to  beat  the  landmarks.  The  later  plan  is  cer- 
tainly more  satisfactory  to  the  boys,  and  it  is  quite  as 
likely  to  impress  their  memories.  Formerly  this  cere- 
mony was  accompanied  by  religious  services,  in  which 
the  clergyman  invoked  curses  on  him  who  "trans- 
gresseth  the  bounds  and  doles  of  his  neighbor,"  and 
blessings  on  him  who  regarded  the  landmarks.1 

It  has  been  suggested  that  this  fixing  and  honoring 
of  the  landmarks  by  an  annual  festival  goes  back  to 
the  Roman  Terminalia,  in  the  days  of  Numa,  but 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  it  was  far  earlier  than 
that.  There  are  traces  of  it  in  primitive  times,  among 
various  primitive  peoples. 

In  Russia,  the  Cossacks  long  had  a  custom  some- 
what like  this,  in  the  case  of  a  disputed  boundary 
line.  When  the  boundary  had  been  formally  deter- 
mined, all  the  boys  of  the  two  contiguous  stanitsas,  or 
land  divisions,  were  collected,  and  driven  by  the  people 

1  See  "  Beating  the  Bounds."'  in  Chambers's  Edinburgh  Journal  for 
July  23,  1853,  pp.  49-52  ;  also  Atnerican  Architect,  Vol.  X.,  No.  293,  p.  64  f. 


1/6  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

along  the  frontier  line.  "At  each  landmark  a  number 
of  boys  were  soundly  whipped  and  allowed  to  run 
home,"  in  order  that  in  later  years  they  might  be  able 
to  testify  as  to  the  spot  where  that  landmark  stood. 
In  cases  where  the  boys'  memory  failed  to  be  accurate, 
an  arbiter  was  chosen  from  the  older  inhabitants,  and 
sworn  to  act  honestly  to  the  best  of  his  knowledge ; 
and  his  decision  was  accepted  as  final.1 

A  similar  custom  of  beating  the  bounds  under  a 
"  selectman  "  of  the  town  has  existed  in  portions  of 
New  England  until  recently,  and  perhaps  it  has  not 
yet  died  out  there.  Thus  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson 
speaks  of  the  selectmen  of  Concord  perambulating 
the  bounds  of  its  township  "  once  in  five  years,"  up  to 
1 85s.2  Is  there  not  a  survival  of  this  old  custom  in 
the  habit  of  striking  a  child  on  his  birthday  as  many 
blows  as  he  has  passed  years,  when  he  comes  to  the 
threshold  of  another  year  of  his  life  ? 

Mile-posts  would  seem  to  have  been  originally 
landmarks  separating  the  public  way  from  private 
lands,  being  placed  at  regular  distances  along  the  road 
for  convenience  of  measurement  and  locating.  They 
marked  the  threshold  of  the  "king's  highway"  to  and 
from  his  capital  in  the  Roman  empire,  as  trees  marked 
the  border-lines  of  the  principal  roads  in  Greece. 

1  Wallace's  Russia,  p.  366  f. 
2  Cited  in  Thompson's  Elements  of  Political  Economy,  p.  no. 


THRESHOLDS  OF  EMPIRE.  \yj 


Stone  pillars  marking  the  exact  boundaries  of  states 
or  nations,  whether  settled  by  a  joint  commission  or 
by  a  conqueror's  fiat,  are  not  a  modern  invention, 
although  they  are  in  use  to-day.  They  are  of  old 
time,  and  of  primitive  ages.  And  these  boundaries 
of  a  country  are  by  their  very  nature  its  thresholds. 

In  Babylonia,  the  name  of  Nebuchadrezzar  meant 
literally,  "  Nebo  protect  the  boundary!  "  The  thresh- 
old of  the  empire  was  sacred  ;  and  the  deity,  with 
whom  the  Babylonian  king  was  in  covenant,  was  the 
protector  of  that  boundary,  and  of  those  who  dwelt 
within  it.  From  the  earliest  times  onward  an  Ori- 
ental sovereign  would  set  up  a  pillar,  or  pillars,  or 
stele,  at  the  extreme  limits  of  his  newly  extended 
dominion,  as  the  outer  threshold  or  doorway  of  his 
empire. 

From  Ticrlath-Pileser  I.  to  Esarhaddon,  from  about 
uoo  B.C.  to  669  B.C.,  the  great  Assyrian  kings  tell 
us,  in  their  inscriptions,  that  whenever  they  restored 
an  old  boundary  of  their  predecessors  that  had  been 
lost  to  them,  or  extended  their  boundary  beyond  its 
former  limits,  they  had  set  up  a  large  stele  bearing  their 
image  at  this  threshold  of  their  empire.1     Frequently 

1  Schrader's  KeilinschriftUche  Bibliothek,  I.,  63,  69,  87,99,  io9.  I3I>  I33- 
135,  141, 143,  147.  155.  159.  161.  165,  167,  169,  181 ;  II.,  19,  35,  54,  89. 


178  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

these  stele  doorways,1  with  the  king  represented  on 
the  threshold,  had  inscriptions  on  them  giving  the 
story  of  the  new  conquests,  with  an  ascription  of 
honor  to  the  covenant  god  by  whose  power  they  had 
been  wrought.  Prominent  mountain  peaks,  sources 
of  rivers,  the  temples  or  market-places  of  conquered 
cities,  the  banks  of  lakes,  or  the  shores  of  the  sea,  are 
chosen  as  conspicuous  places  for  such  steles.  Na- 
tional boundary  marks  of  this  character  are  still  to  be 
seen  on  the  rocks  of  Nahr-el-Kelb,  above  Beyroot,  on 
the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  at  the  sources  of 
the  Tigris  and  the  Euphrates.2 

Ashurnasirapli  (king  of  Assyria,  885-860  B.C.)  tells 
of  such  a  new  boundary  mark  set  up  by  him  at  the 
farthest  point  of  his  conquests,  "  whither  nobody  of 
my  royal  ancestors  had  advanced.  ...  At  that  time 
I  made  a  picture  [a  stele]  of  my  person.  The  glory 
of  my  power  I  wrote  upon  it.  On  the  mountain  Eki, 
in  the  city  Ashurnasirapli  [named  after  the  king],  at  a 
spring  I  set  it  up."  3 

A  similar  custom  would  seem  to  have  prevailed 
with  the  rulers  of  ancient  Egypt.  Sneferu,  a  king  of 
the  fourth  dynasty,  greatest  among  the  very  early 
names  of  the  Old  Empire  (say,  about  4000  B.C.),  went 

1  See  pp.  105-108,  supra. 
2  See,  for  example,  Schroder's  Keilinshriftliche  Bibliothek,  I.,  69. 
3  Rawlinson's  Inscriptions  of  Western  Asia,  I.,  17-26,  col.  I,  lines  63-69. 


EG  YPTIAN  BOUNDARIES.  1 79 

down  as  a  conqueror  into  the  Peninsula  of  Sinai,  and 
left  there  inscribed  a  mammoth  figure  of  himself,  on 
the  granite  hills  above  the  famous  copper  and  tur- 
quoise mines  of  Wady  Magharah.  He  is  styled  in 
the  accompanying  inscription  the  "  vanquisher  of  a 
foreign  people."1 

As  early  as  the  twelfth  dynasty  of  ancient  Egypt, 
before  the  days  of  Abraham,  stone  thresholds  marked 
the  upper  border  of  that  mighty  empire.  "Two  huge 
pillars  of  stone,  covered  with  long  inscriptions,  served 
formerly  as  boundary  marks  between  the  Egyptian 
empire  and  the  negro-land  called  Heh." 2  King  Usur- 
tasen  III.,  who  set  up  these  landmarks,  says  in  an 
inscription  on  the  second  of  them :  "  Every  one  of  my 
sons  who  maintains  this  boundary  which  I  have  fixed, 
he  shall  be  called  my  son  who  was  born  of  me.  My 
son  is  like  the  protector  of  his  father  (that  is  Horus), 
like  the  preserver  of  the  boundary  of  his  father  (that 
is  Osiris.)  But  if  he  abandons  it,  so  that  he  does  not 
fight  upon  it,  he  is  not  my  son,  he  is  not  then  born 
of  me.  I  have  caused  my  own  image  to  be  set  up, 
on  this  boundary  which  I  have  fixed,  not  that  ye 
may  (only)  worship  it  (the  image  of  the  founder),  but 
that  ye  may  fight  upon  it." 

1  Brugsch's  Egypt  under  the  Pharaohs,  I.,  8  f . ;  Villiers  Stuart's  Nile 
Gleanings,  PI.  xlv.,  p.  276. 

2  Brugsch's  Egypt  under  the  Pharaohs,  I.,  182  f. 


l8o  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

On  the  oldest  map  in  the  world,  a  map  of  the  gold 
districts  in  Nubia,  in  the  nineteenth  dynasty  of  Egypt, 
there  is  a  mention  of  the  "  memorial  stone  of  King 
Mineptah  I.  Seti  I."  And  that  memorial  stone,  of 
this  new  threshold  of  domain,  marked  the  boundary 
line  of  empire  in  that  direction.1 

Rameses  II.  had  it  recorded  on  the  walls  of  the 
rock  grotto  of  Bayt-el-Walli  concerning  his  threshold 
extensions :  "  The  deeds  of  victory  are  inscribed  a 
hundred  thousand  times  on  the  glorious  Persea.  As 
the  chastiser  of  the  foreigners,  who  has  placed  his 
boundary-marks  according  to  Jus  pleasure  in  the  land 
of  the  Ruthennu,  he  is  in  truth  the  son  of  Ra,  and  his 
very  image."  2 

On  the  eastern  border  of  Lower  Egypt,  the  main 
passage  way  from  the  Delta  into  Arabia,  the  great 
gateway  of  the  empire  toward  the  north  and  the  east, 
is  still  known  as  El  Gisr,  or  "  The  Threshold."3 
This  point  is  near  Lake  Timsah,  on  the  line  of  the 
modern  Suez  Canal. 

In  ancient  Greece,  Theseus  "  set  up  a  pillar,"  as  a 
threshold  stone  between  Peloponnesus  and  Attica, — 
then  called  Ionia, — "  writing  upon  it  an  epigram  in  two 
trimeters,  bounding  the  land.  Of  these  [inscriptions] 
the  one  toward  the  east  side  said,  'This  is  not  Pelo- 

1  Brugsch's  Egypt  tender  the  Pharaohs,  II.,  81  f.  2  Ibid.,  II.,  78  f. 

3  Trumbull's  Kadesh-barnea,  p.  341,  note. 


RE  CROSSING   THE  THRESHOLD.  181 

pennesus,  but  Ionia,'  and  that  toward  the  west,  '  This 
is  Pelopennesus,  not  Ionia.'  "  l 

Even  the  term,  the  "  Pillars  of  Hercules,"  as  the 
boundaries  of  the  Grecian  empire  and  the  then  known 
world,  is  an  indication  of  this  idea  in  the  classic  age, 
as  well  as  in  the  primitive  mind.  Calpe  and  Abyla 
were  the  door-posts  of  the  great  outer  passage  way, 
and  the  threshold  between  those  pillars  was  founded 
upon  the  seas,  and  established  upon  the  floods.2 

As  showing  that  the  term  "  threshold "  is  not 
applied  to  these  boundary  stones  merely  by  accom- 
modation, it  is  sufficient  to  quote  from  Justinian  in 
the  case.  He  declares  specifically  that  "  as  the 
threshold  makes  a  certain  boundary  in  a  house,  so 
also  the  ancients  designed  that  the  boundary  of  the 
empire  should  be  its  threshold  ;  hence  it  is  called  the 
4  threshold,'  as  if  it  were  a  certain  bound  and  term."  3 
Speaking  of  one  who  has  been  in  foreign  captivity, 
and  who  desires  a  resumption,  or  a  restoration,  of  his 
civil  rights,  on  his  coming  back  to  his  country,  Jus- 
tinian says  that  such  a  return  "is  called  postliminium 
[a  recrossing  of  the  threshold],  because  at  that  same 
threshold  the  thing  which  he  has  lost  is  restored  to 
him."4 

When  the  old  Portuguese  navigators  started  out  on 

1  Plutarch's  Lives,  Theseus,  25.  2  Psa.  24  :  2. 

3  Justinian,  Inst.,  Lib.  I.,  12,  5.  *  Ibid. 


1 82  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

their  voyages  of  discovery,  they  were  accustomed  to 
take  with  them  stone  pillars  to  set  up  in  a  prominent 
place  at  the  farthest  limits  of  their  newly  claimed  terri- 
tory as  the  national  door-posts  or  threshold  in  that 
direction.  Such  a  pillar  was  erected  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Congo  River,  at  the  time  of  its  discovery  by  Diego 
Cao,  or  Cam,  in  1484-85.  On  this  account,  the  river 
was  known  for  a  time  as  the  "  Rio  de  Padrao,"  or 
"Pillar  River."1  It  might,  indeed,  have  been  called 
the  "  River  of  the  Threshold." 

This  custom  of  setting  up  stone  pillars  as  boundary 
marks  along  the  borders  of  countries,  nations,  and 
states,  has  been  continued  down  to  the  present  day. 
Such  landmarks  are  still  to  be  seen  along  the  borders 
of  the  great  divisions  of  Europe,  and  they  are  on  the 
lines  of  the  several  states  of  the  United  States  of 
America.  The  line  between  the  English  grants  in 
America,  originally  made  to  the  Duke  of  York  and 
to  Lord  Baltimore,  was,  after  much  dispute,  run  by 
two  English  surveyors,  Charles  Mason  and  Jeremiah 
Dixon,  in  1763-67,  and  marked  by  stone  pillars  at 
intervals  of  five  miles.  This  was  generally  known 
as  "Mason  and  Dixon's  line;"  it  separated  Penn- 
sylvania from  Delaware,  Maryland,  and  Virginia,  and 
was  the  dividing  line  between  the  free  and  the  slave 
states  before  the  Civil  War  of  1861-65.     One  of  those 

1  Stanley's  Congo,  I.,  i-ii.     k 


GERMAN  MARGRA  VES.  183 

early  stone  landmarks  on  that  line  is  still  to  be  seen 
near  Oxford,  in  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania,  as  an 
illustration  of  a  practice  beginning  in  Babylonia  as  far 
back  as  4000  B.  C,  and  continued  in  America  down 
to  A.D.  1895.1 

European  titles  of  rank  bear  traces  of  the  impor- 
tance formerly  attached  to  national  boundary  lines  and 
their  preservation.  The  old  German  title  of  "  mark- 
graf,"  the  "  graf  "  or  count  or  warden  of  the  marches, 
designated  a  representative  or  servant  of  the  king  who 
was  in  charge  of  the  "  marches,"  or  "marks,"  or 
"  border  lines,"  which  guarded  the  thresholds  of  the 
empire  in  different  directions.  It  was  under  "  Henry 
the  Fowler,"  early  in  the  tenth  century,  that  this  title, 
as  a  title,  first  gained  prominence.  Afterwards  it  be- 
came hereditary  ;  "  and  hence  have  come  the  innum- 
erable margraves,  marquises,  and  such  like  of  modern 
times."2 

"  Letters  of  marque  "  were  letters  of  commission, 
or  permission,  granted  by  the  government  to  indi- 
viduals, in  time  of  war,  to  pass  over  the  boundary 
mark,  or  national  threshold,  for  purposes  of  seizure  or 
reprisal.  And  a  "  marquee"  is  primarily  a  tent  over, 
or  before,  the  threshold  of  a  military  commander's 
tent. 

1  See  Penn.  Mag.  of  Hist,  and  Biog.,  VI.,  412-434. 
2Carlyle's  History  of  Frederick,  II.,  I.,  7i"74- 


1 84  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

4.    BORDER    SACRIFICES. 

An  altar  would  have  no  meaning  unless  sacrifices 
were  offered  at  it.  If,  therefore,  the  boundary  thresh- 
old of  an  empire  were  an  altar  for  that  empire,  sacri- 
fices would  surely  be  offered  there ;  and  the  records 
of  history,  and  the  customs  of  old  times  and  later, 
show  this  to  have  been  the  case. 

Sacrifices  were  offered  at  the  new  boundary  of  an 
empire,  by  ancient  Assyrian  and  Egyptian  kings, 
when  they  set  up  a  pillar,  or  stele,  at  the  freshly  ac- 
quired threshold  in  that  direction.  Thus,  for  example, 
Ashurnasirapli  (king  of  Assyria,  885-860  B.C.),  telling 
of  his  far-reaching  conquests,  says  that  he  marched 
with  his  armies  to  the  slopes  of  the  Lebanon,  and  to 
the  great  sea  of  the  Westland,  and  that  at  the  moun- 
tains of  Ammanus  he  made  and  set  up  a  stele  of 
victory,  and  offered  sacrifices  unto  his  gods.1 

At  the  Egyptian  boundary  line  in  the  Sinaitic 
Peninsula,  there  was  a  temple  with  its  sacrifices  to 
"the  sublime  Hathor,  queen  of  heaven  and  earth  and 
the  dark  depths  below,  whom  the  Egyptians  wor- 
shiped as  the  protectress  of  the  land  of  Mafkat." 
There  were  other  temples  with  their  sacrifices  at  that 
point.2     On  the  southern  boundary  of  Egypt,  in  the 

1  Rawlinson's  Inscriptions  of  Western  Asia,  I.,  17-26,  Col.  III.,  11.  84-89. 
2  Brugsch's  Egypt  under  the  Pharaohs,  I.,  81. 


BORDER  ALTARS  IN  CHINA.  185 

gold  district  of  Nubia,  there  was  "the  temple  of  Amon 
in  the  holy  mountain,"  where  threshold  sacrifices  were 
offered.1 

One  of  the  most  ancient  of  Chinese  classics  is  the 
Shih  King.  Its  age  is  not  known,  but  it  is  certain 
that  it  was  a  classic  in  the  days  of  Confucius,  five 
centuries  before  the  Christian  era.  This  work  con- 
tains frequent  references  to  sacrifices  at  the  border 
altars,  or  the  altars  of  the  boundary.  There  were 
public  sacrifices  at  the  "  border  altar  "  in  the  begin- 
ning of  every  new  year ;  and  again  when  a  ruler 
crossed  his  border  line  on  a  warlike  mission.2 

When,  in  ancient  times,  a  Chinese  emperor  passed 
over  the  outer  threshold  of  his  empire,  he  offered  a 
sacrifice  of  a  dog,  by  running  over  it  with  the  wheels 
of  his  chariot.  This  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  pro- 
pitiatory offering  to  the  dog-shaped  guardians  of  the 
roadway  threshold,  known  also  among  the  Indo- 
Aryans  and  the  Assyro-Babylonians.3 

From  what  is  known  of  modern  customs  in  this  line, 
and  from  occasional  historical  references  to  the  matter, 
it  would  seem  that  where  there  were  no  gateways,  or 
double  columns  to  stand  for  door-posts,  or  doorway 

1  Brugsch's  Egypt  under  the  Pharaohs,  II.,  82. 

2 "The  Shih  King,"  in  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  III.,  343,  392,  399, 
note,  420,  422  note. 

3  Lacoupene's   Western  Origin   of  the  Early  Chinese    Civilization,  pp. 
79.  81. 


1 86  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

stele,  it  was  the  practice  to  divide  or  separate  the 
animals  offered  in  sacrifice,  so  as  to  make  a  passage- 
way between  them,  as  through  a  door  or  gate,  and 
to  pour  out  the  blood  of  the  victims  on  the  earth 
between  the  two  portions,  so  that  the  offerer,  or  the 
one  welcomed,  might  pass  over,  or  step  across,  that 
blood,  as  in  a  threshold  covenant. 

It  has  already  been  noted  that  when  General  Grant 
came  to  the  border  line  of  Assioot,  in  Upper  Egypt, 
as  he  landed  from  his  Nile  boat,  a  bullock  was  sacri- 
ficed in  covenant  welcome,  its  head  being  put  on  one 
side  of  the  gang-plank,  and  its  body  on  the  other ; 
while  its  blood  was  between  the  two,  so  that  it  should 
be  stepped  over  in  the  act  of  landing.1  And  every 
year,  when  the  great  Hajj  procession  returns  from 
Meccah  to  Syria,  it  is  welcomed,  as  it  approaches 
Damascus,  by  just  such  sacrifices  as  this.  Sheep  and 
oxen  are  sacrificed  before  the  caravan,  their  blood 
being  poured  out  in  the  middle  of  the  road,  and  their 
bodies  being  divided  and  placed  on  either  side  of  the 
way.  Then  those  who  approach  by  this  "new  and 
living  way," 2  on  the  boundary  line  of  their  country, 
renew  their  covenant  with  those  within,  by  passing 
over  the  blood.3 

There  seems  to  be  a  reference  to  such  a  mode  of 

1  See  p.  7  f.,  ante.  2  Heb.  io  :  20. 

5  I  have  this  on  the  testimony  of  those  who  have  often  witnessed  it. 


,  ABRAHAM'S  BORDER  SA  CRIFICE.  1 87 

boundaiy  sacrifices,  in  the  description  of  the  Lord's 
covenant  welcome  to  Abraham,  on  the  border  of  the 
land  promised  to  him  for  a  possession.1  Abraham 
was  near  the  southern  boundary  of  Canaan.  He  had 
the  promise  of  the  Lord,  that  he  and  his  seed  should 
possess  that  land;  but  as  yet  he  was  childless,  and  he 
had  no  control  over  any  portion  of  the  land.  He 
naturally  desired  some  tangible  assurance,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  customs  of  mankind,  that  the  Lord's 
promises  to  him  would  be  made  good.  Therefore 
when  the  Lord  said  to  him,  "I  am  the  Lord  that 
brought  thee  out  of  Ur  of  the  Chaldees,  to  give  thee 
this  land  to  inherit  it,"  Abraham  replied  with  the 
question,  "  O  Lord  God,  whereby  shall  I  know  that  I 
shall  inherit  it  ?  " 

Then  the  Lord  responded  with  these  directions, 
apparently  in  accordance  with  a  well-known  mode  of 
covenanting  among  men  :  "  Take  me  an  heifer  of  three 
years  old,  and  a  she-goat  of  three  years  old,  and  a  ram 
of  three  years  old,  and  a  turtledove,  and  a  young 
pigeon."  Abraham  seems  to  have  understood  what 
was  to  be  done  with  these  victims  for  sacrifice.  "  And 
he  took  him  all  these,  and  divided  them  in  the  midst, 
and  laid  each  half  over  against  the  other :  but  the 
birds  divided  he  not."  The  blood  of  the  victims  was 
doubtless  poured  out  on  the  earth  where  they  were 

1  See  Gen.  15  :  1-21. 


1 88  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

sacrificed,  midway  between  the  places  of  the  divided 
portions,  as  is  the  present  custom. 

"And  it  came  to  pass,  that,  when  the  sun  went  down, 
and  it  was  dark,  behold  a  smoking  furnace  [or  brazier, 
or  censer],  and  a  flaming  torch  [a  fire  and  a  light  as  a 
symbol  of  the  Divine  presence]  that  passed  [covenant- 
crossed  the  blood  on  the  threshold]  between  these 
pieces."  And  the  record  adds :  "  In  that  day  the 
Lord  made  a  covenant  [a  border-altar  covenant]  with 
Abram,  saying,  Unto  thy  seed  have  I  given  this  land, 
from  the  river  of  Egypt  unto  the  great  river,  the  river 
Euphrates :  the  Kenite,  and  the  Kenizzite,  and  the 
Kadmonite,  and  the  Hittite,  and  the  Perizzite,  and  the 
Rephaim,  and  the  Amorite,  and  the  Canaanite,  and 
the  Girgashite,  and  the  Jebusite." 

Thus  Abram  was  assured  that  the  Lord  had  cove- 
nanted to  protect  his  boundaries ;  as  Nebuchadrezzar 
long  afterward  desired  that  his  god  Nebo  would  pro- 
tect his  empire  boundary  or  threshold.  As  to  the 
fact  of  boundary  sacrifices  in  these  lands  and  else- 
where, in  those  days  and  earlier,  there  would  seem  to 
be  no  room  for  question. 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  border  sacrifices  would 
at  all  times,  and  in  all  places,  be  just  alike;  but  a 
common  primitive  symbolism  would  be  likely  to  show 
itself  in  them  all.  In  Persia,  these  sacrifices  are  still 
common,  when  one  is  to  be  leceived  with  honors  at 


B  ORDER  SA  CR  IF  ICES  IN  PERSIA .  1 89 

the  border  of  a  new  territory  or  jurisdiction.1  Morier, 
describing  his  journey  through  Persia,  in  the  early 
part  of  this  century,  speaks  of  the  first  entrance  of  a 
new  ruler  into  the  territory  he  was  to  govern.  "  The 
khan,  with  all  his  attendants,  accompanied  us  about 
two  miles.  He  was  preparing  to  enter  Bushire,  his 
new  government,  with  all  splendor.  From  the  town 
to  the  swamps  [from  the  territorial  border  to  the  bor- 
der of  the  capital]  were  erected  stages  on  which  bul- 
locks were  to  be  sacrificed,  and  from  which  their 
heads  were  to  be  thrown  under  his  horse's  feet  as  he 
advanced ;  a  ceremony,  indeed,  appropriated  to  princes 
alone,  and  to  them  only  on  particular  occasions."2 

On  another  occasion,  when  the  British  envoy  ap- 
proached Kauzeroon,  on  a  visit  of  ceremony,  he  was 
welcomed  at  the  threshold  of  the  town  by  a  corre- 
sponding ceremony.  "  A  bottle  which  contained 
sugar  candy  was  broken  under  the  feet  of  the  envoy's 
horse,  a  ceremony  never  practiced  in  Persia  to  any 
but  to  royal  personages."3 

Aciain,  when  the  Shah  of  Persia  wras  to  enter  Tehe- 
ran,  he  was  received  outside  of  the  walls,  by  prominent 
officials,  with  much  ceremony.      As  he  approached 

1  On  this  point  I  am  assured  by  missionaries  and  other  dwellers  in 

Persia. 

2  Morier's  Journey  to  Constantinople,  p.  75. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  84  f.     See,  also,  Morier's  Second  Journey  through  Persia, 

P-  93  f- 


190  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

the  gates  "  oxen  and  sheep  in  great  numbers  were 
sacrificed  just  as  he  passed,  and  their  heads  thrown 
under  his  horse's  feet."  And  "  glass  vases  filled  with 
sugar  were  broken  before  him."  On  this  occasion  the 
Shah  frequently  looked  at  a  watch,  "  anxious  that  he 
should  enter  the  gates  exactly  at  the  time  prescribed 
by  the  astrologers  "  for  his  crossing  the  threshold.1 

More  recently,  Layard  has  testified  to  the  preva- 
lence of  such  customs.  Speaking  of  his  reception 
among  the  Yezidis,  he  tells  of  his  approach  to  the  vil- 
lage of  Guzelder,  and  of  his  welcome  there  :  "  The 
head  of  the  village  of  Guzelder,  with  the  principal 
inhabitants,  had  come  to  invite  me  to  eat  bread  in  his 
house,  and  we  followed  him.  .  .  .  Before  we  reached 
Guzelder,  the  procession  had  swollen  to  many  hun- 
dreds. .  .  .  As  I  approached,  sheep  were  brought  into 
the  road  and  slain  before  my  horse's  feet,  and  as  we 
entered  the  yard  of  Akko's  house  the  women  and  men 
joined  in  the  loud  and  piercing  '  taldcl!  "2 

Again,  as  Layard  entered  the  village  of  Redwan, 
he  was  similarly  welcomed.  "  I  alighted,"  he  says, 
"amidst  the  din  of  music  and  the  l tahleV  at  the 
house  of  Nazi,  the  chief  of  the  whole  Yezidi  district ; 
two  sheep  being  slain  before  me  as  I  took  my  feet 
from  the  stirrups."  3 

1  Morier's  Second  Journey  through  Persia,  p.  387  f. 
2  Layard's  Nineveh  and  Babylon  (Am.  ed.),  p.  35  f.  3  Ibid.,  p.  37. 


OFFERINGS  OF  BLOOD  AND  OF  SALT.      191 

When,  some  twenty  years  ago,  a  European  prince 
visited  the  Mt.  Lebanon  region,1  a  generous  host 
killed  a  valuable  cow  on  the  road  by  which  the  prince 
must  come  into  his  region.  Then  the  royal  visitor 
and  his  retinue  were  requested  to  step  over,  not  upon, 
the  blood  of  the  slaughtered  cow,  at  the  threshold  of 
that  host's  domain. 

On  the  occasion  of  a  caravan  starting  out  from  the 
boundary  line  of  a  country  in  the  East,  there  are  bor- 
der sacrifices  offered,  even  in  recent  times.  Thus 
Burckhardt  tells  of  this  ceremony,  when  he  went  from 
Egypt  to  Nubia. 

The  various  traders  going  with  this  caravan  assem- 
bled at  the  starting-point,  having  their  goods  with 
them.  "  At  noon  the  camels  were  watered,  and  knelt 
down  by  the  side  of  their  respective  loads.  Just 
before  the  lading  commenced,  the  Ababde  women 
appeared  with  earth  vessels  in  their  hands,  filled  with 
burning  coals.  They  set  them  before  the  several 
loads,  and  threw  salt  upon  them."  It  has  already 
been  shown  that  salt  stands  for  blood,  in  the  minds  of 
primitive  peoples.  "  At  the  rising  of  the  bluish  flame 
produced  by  the  burning  of  the  salt,  they  exclaimed, 
'May   you    be  blessed  in    going  and  in  coming!"'2 

1  My  informant,  an  eye-witness  of  this  incident,  was  not  sure  whether  it 
was  a  Prussian,  an  Austrian,  or  a  Russian  prince. 

2  Burckhardt's  Travels  in  Nubia,  p.  157. 


192  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

And  this  sacrifice  was  supposed  to  secure  safety 
against  evil  spirits  encountered  in  crossing  the  boun- 
dary line. 

Thus  it  would  seem  that,  from  the  beginning,  on 
the  national  threshold,  as  on  the  threshold  of  the 
temple  and  of  the  home,  sacrifices  were  offered,  and 
boundary  marks  were  set  up,  in  recognition  of  a  pecu- 
liar sacredness  of  the  border  line, — which  is  in  itself  a 
foundation  and  a  limit.  These  boundary  marks  were 
commonly  a  pillar  or  a  tree,  in  apparent  symbolism 
of  a  fructifying  or  a  fruit-bearing  agency,  of  the  trans- 
mission or  the  continuance  of  life.  And  the  establish- 
ment and  protection  of  these  boundary  marks  was 
deemed  well  pleasing  to  God  or  to  the  gods,  and  in 
the  nature  of  a  holy  covenant  service. 


IV. 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  RITE. 


I.    A    NATURAL    QUESTION. 


A  question  that  forces  itself  on  the  mind,  in  con- 
nection with  the  study  of  a  world-wide  primitive  rite 
like  this  of  the  Threshold  Covenant,  is,  What  was  its 
origin  ?  How  came  it  to  pass,  that  primitive  peoples, 
in  all  parts  of  the  world,  were  brought  to  attach  such 
exceptionally  sacred  significance  to  the  threshold  of 
a  hut,  or  tent,  or  cave,  or  house ;  of  a  palace  or  tem- 
ple ;  of  a  domain,  local  or  national ;  and  to  count  its 
crossing  by  blood  a  form  of  holy  covenanting  between 
the  parties  engaged  in  it,  and  the  deity  invoked  in  the 
ceremony?  This  question  goes  back  to  the  origin  of 
religious  rites  among  human  beings,  and  its  answer 
must,  in  order  to  commend  itself  to  all,  be  in  accord- 
ance with  the  natural  outgrowths  and  the  abnormal 
perversions  of  religious  rites,  in  the  main  line  of 
human  development  all  the  world  over. 

However  simple  and  elemental  were  man's  earliest 
13  193 


194  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

religious  ideas,  they  must  have  been  from  the  begin- 
ning pure  and  uplifting,  or  they  would  not  have  been 
religious.  Nothing  impure  or  debasing  in  itself  would 
have  raised  man's  thoughts  Godward,  even  though 
man  might  subsequently  come  to  degrade  his  best 
conceptions  of  God  and  his  worship.  Hence  the 
answer  to  this  question  must  include  only  such  facts 
as  were  capable  of  being  viewed  reverently  by  primi- 
tive man,  as  worthy  of  God's  creatures  in  the  loving 
service  and  worship  of  God. 

2.    AN    ANSWER    BY    INDUCTION. 

This  threshold  rite  clearly  goes  back  to  the  begin- 
ning of  family  life.  The  facts  already  presented  are 
proof  of  this.  The  rite  includes  the  proffer  of  blood 
at  the  foundation  of  the  family  as  a  family.  It  is  a 
part  of  the  marriage  ceremonial  among  primitive  peo- 
ples. It  is  also  the  means  by  which  one  is  adopted 
from  without  into  a  family  circle  or  group.  It  marks 
every  stage  of  the  progress  of  family  life,  from  one 
pair  to  a  community  and  to  an  empire,  in  its  civil  and 
religious  relations.  It  is  a  form  of  covenanting  be- 
tween  its  participants,  and  between  them  and  God  ; 
and  thus  it  has  sanctity  as  a  religious  rite. 

A    fair    induction    from   these    recognized  facts,  in 
their  sweep  and   significance,  would  seem  to  indicate, 


EARLIEST  BLOOD  COVENANT.  195 

as  the  origin  of  this  primitive  rite,  the  covenant  union 
between  the  first  pair  in  their  instituting  of  the  family 
relation.  When  was  the  first  covenant  made  between 
two  human  beings  ?  When  was  the  first  outpouring 
of  blood  in  loving  sacrifice  ?  By  what  act  was  the 
first  appeal  made  to  the  Author  and  Source  of  life  for 
power  for  the  transmission  of  life,  by  two  persons  who 
thereby  entered  into  covenant  with  each  other  and 
with  him  ?  The  obvious  answer  to  these  questions 
is  an  answer  to  the  question,  What  was  the  origin  of 
the  rite  of  the  Threshold  Covenant  ? 

Life  and  its  transmission  must  have  been  a  sacred 
mystery  to  the  first  thinkers  about  God  and  his  human 
workers.  Blood  was  early  recognized  as  life,  its  out- 
pouring as  the  pledge  and  gift  of  life,  and  its  inter- 
change as  a  life  covenant  between  those  who  shared 
its  substance.  In  view  of  this  truth,  a  covenant  union 
by  blood  that  looked  to  the  transmission  of  life  must 
have  been  in  itself,  to  a  thoughtful  and  reverent  per- 
son, an  appeal  to  the  Author  of  life  to  be  a  party  to 
that  covenant  union,  in  order  to  give  it  efficiency. 

When  first  a  twain  were  made  one  in  a  covenant  of 
blood,  the  threshold  altar  of  the  race  was  hallowed  as 
a  place  where  the  Author  of  life  met  and  blessed  the 
loving  union.  And  from  this  beginning  there  was  the 
natural  development  of  religious  rites  and  ceremonies, 
in   the  family,  in  the  temple,  and   in  the  domain,  as 


l$6  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

shown  alike  in  the  history  of  the  human  race  and  in 
the  main  teachings  of  both  the  Old  Testament  and 
the  New. 

3.  NO  COVENANT  WITHOUT  BLOOD. 

Flowing  blood  is  widely  deemed  essential  to  the 
covenant  by  which  two  are  made  one  in  the  marriage 
relation.  This  is  peculiarly  the  case  among  those 
primitive  peoples  where  young  maidens  are  guarded 
with  jealous  care,  and  are  given  in  marriage  at  a  very 
early  age.  In  the  thought  of  such  peoples  there  is  no 
binding  covenant  without  blood,  in  the  family  rela- 
tion.1 And  a  bloody  hand  stamp  on  the  cloth  of 
testimony  is  the  primitive  certificate  of  the  marriage 
covenant. 

Facts  in  illustration  of  this  truth  are  numerous  in 
the  nuptial  customs  of  Syria,  Egypt,  China,  Dahomey, 
Liberia,  Europe,  Central  America,  Samoa,  and  other 
widely  different  regions.  A  few  of  these  facts  are 
given  in  the  Appendix  for  the  benefit  of  scientific 
students,  in  a  language  better  suited  than  English  for 
the  presentation  of  such  details.2 

1  The  recognition  of  this  truth  is  a  reason  for  the  infibulation  of  female 
children  among  primitive  peoples.  (See,  for  example,  Captain  J.  S. 
King's  "  Notes  on  the  Folk-Lore,  and  some  Social  Customs  of  the  Western 
Somali  Tribes,"  in  the  London  Folk- Lore  Journal,  VI.,  124;  also  Dr. 
Remondino's  History  of  Circumcision,  p.  51.) 
2  See  Appendix. 


FORM  OF  AR  VAN  AL TAR.  1 97 

4.    CONFIRMATION    OF    THIS    VIEW. 

If  the  view  here  given  of  the  origin  of  this  rite  of 
the  Threshold  Covenant  be  correct,  there  will  be 
found  traces  of  the  truth  in  the  different  religions  of 
mankind.  And  this  is  the  case,  as  shown  in  religious 
literatures,  in  history,  and  in  primitive  customs  and 
beliefs. 

The  most  ancient  expression  of  the  religious 
thought  and  feeling  of  the  Aryan  races  is  found  in  the 
Vedas  and  their  accompanying  literature.  The  Brah- 
manas,  in  this  literature,  deal  with  the  sacrificial  ele- 
ment in  public  and  family  worship,  and  with  the  rites 
and  ceremonies  pertaining  to  religion.  In  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  construction  of  the  household  altars  and 
the  high  altars,  there  is  abundant  evidence  that  the 
woman  is  recognized  as  the  primitive  altar,  and  that 
the  form  of  the  woman  is  made  the  pattern  of  the 
altar  form. 

It  is  distinctly  declared  as  to  the  shape  of  the  altar, 
standing  east  and  west,  that  it  "  should  be  broader  on 
the  west  side,  contracted  on  the  middle,  and  broad 
again  on  the  east  side  ;  for  thus  shaped  they  praise  a 
woman :  '  broad  about  the  hips,  somewhat  narrower 
between  the  shoulders,  and  contracted  in  the  middle 
[or  about  the  waist].'  "  Again,  it  is  said,  in  explana- 
tion, that  "  the  altar  [vedii  feminine)  is  female,  and  the 


igS  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

fire  (agui,  masculine)  is  male."1  This  identifying  of 
the  altar  with  the  woman,  of  the  offering  with  the 
man,  and  of  their  union  with  worship  and  covenant- 
ing, is  repeatedly  found  in  the  Brahmanas.2 

Even  as  far  back  as  the  Vedas  themselves  the  term 
yo7ii,  or  doorway  of  physical  life,  is  used  as  synony- 
mous with  altar.3  And  the  production  of  sacred  fire,  for 
purposes  of  worship,  by  twisting  a  stick  in  softened 
wood,  is  described  in  the  Rig- Vedas  as  a  form  of  this 
covenant  rite.  These  facts  point  to  this  origin  of  the 
threshold  altar  of  covenant  and  sacrifice. 

At  present  in  India  the  most  widely  recognized  visi- 
ble aid  in  worship  is  the  representation  of  the  linga 
and  the  yoni  combined.  This  symbol  nominally  stands 
for  Siva  ;  but  that  seems  to  be  only  because  Saivism 
predominates  in  modern  Hindooism.  The  idea  of 
this  symbolic  combination  long  antedates  this  promi- 
nence of  Siva  worship.4 

1  See  "Satapatha  Brahmana,"  I.  Kanda,  2  Adhyaya,  5  Brahmana,  14-16, 
in  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  XII.,  62  f. ;  also  "Satapatha  Brahmana," 
III.,  5,  1,  11,  in  Sac.  Bks.  of  East,  XXVI.,  113. 

2  "  Satapatha  Brahmana,"  I.,  3, 1, 18  ;  I.,  9,  2,  5-11,  21-24 ;  u->  1>  x>  4-  m 
Sac.  Bks.  of  East,  XII.,  74,  257,  262,  277  ;  also  "  Satapatha  Brahmana," 
III.,  3,  I,  11  ;   III.,  8,  4,  7-18,  in  Sac.  Bks.  of  East,  XXVI.,  61,  211-214. 

3  See  Rig-Veda,  II.,  36,  4  ;  X.,  18,  7.  Comp.  "  Satapatha  Brahmana,'' 
1.,  7,  2,  14,  in  Sac.  Bks.  of  East,  XII.,  194;  also  "Satapatha  Brah- 
mana," IV.,  1,  2,  9;  IV.,  1,  3,  19,  with  note,  in  Sac.  Bks.  of  East,  XXVI., 
260,  269.     See,  also,  Hopkins's  Religions  of  India,  p.  490,  and  note. 

4  Compare  Sir  Monier  Monier-Williams's  Brahmanism  and  Hinduism, 
pp.  33,  54  f.,  223  f.,  and  Wilkins's  Hindu  Mythology,  p.  233  f. 


FORM  OF  BOODDHIST  PRA  YER.  199 

A  form  of  Booddhist  prayer  in  Tibet,  said  to  be 
repeated  more  frequently  than  any  other  known 
among  men,  is  "  the  six-syllabled  sentence,  '  Om  mam 
padmeHnm;—'  Om !  the  Jewel  in  the  Lotus !  Hum ! ' ' 
This  prayer  is  simply  a  euphemism  for  the  primitive 
Threshold  Covenant,  as  here  explained,  with  an  ejacu- 
latory  invocation  and  ascription  before  and  after  it1 
It  seems  to  be  a  survival  of  the  thought  that  here 
was  the  beginning  of  religious  rites,  and  that  ail  cove- 
nant worship  must  continue  in  its  spirit  and  power. 

Every  repetition  of  that  prayer,  by  speech  or  by 
mechanism,  is  supposed  to  affect  the  progress  of  a 
soul  in  its  crossing  the  threshold  of  one  of  the  stages 
of  being  in  the  universe.  It  is  a  help  to  a  new  birth 
for  some  soul  somewhere. 

There  would  thus  appear  to  be  no  room  for  doubt 
in  this  matter  in  the  language  and  customs  of  the 
primitive  Aryan  peoples,  and  there  are  also  confirma- 

i  Sir  Monier  Monier-Williams's  Buddhism,  pp.  371-373-  This  writer 
speaking  of  the  prominence  in  India  of  the  symbolism  of  the  linga and 
yoni  combined,  ascribes  it  to  the  theory  of  the  two  essences,  "  Spirit  re- 
garded as  a  male  principle,  and  Matter,  or  the  germ  of  the  external  world, 
regarded  as  a  female."  He  says:  ■«  Without  the  union  of  the  two  no 
creation  takesplace.  To  any  one  imbued  with  these  dualistic  conceptions 
the  linga  and  the  yoni  are  suggestive  of  no  improper  ideas  They  are 
either  types  of  the  two  mysterious  creative  forces  ...  or  symbols  of  one 
divine  power  delegating  procreative  energy  to  male  and  female  organisms. 
They  are  mvstical  representatives,  and  perhaps  the  best  impersonal  repre- 
sentatives, of  the  abstract  expressions  '  paternity'  and  •maternity,  [and 
their  conjunction   in    marital   union].       {Brahmanism    and  Htndutsm, 

p.  224  f.) 


200  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

tions  of  the  idea  among  the  Semites.  A  legend  that 
has  a  place  among  the  Jews  and  the  Muhammadans, 
tells  of  a  visit  of  Abraham  to  the  home  of  Haear  and 
Ishmael  in  Arabia.1  An  Amalekite  wife  of  Ishmael 
refused  hospitality  to  Abraham,  and  in  consequence 
Abraham  left  a  message  to  Ishmael  to  "change  his 
threshold."  This  message  Ishmael  understood  to 
mean  the  putting  away  of  his  wife  and  the  taking  of 
another,  and  he  acted  accordingly.  In  the  Arabic  "  a 
wife"  is  one  of  the  meanings  of  the  term  "threshold."2 

And  the  term  "  gate,"  or  door,"  had  among  the  rab- 
bis a  specific  application  to  the  altar  of  family  cove- 
nanting. Thus  Buxtorf,  in  his  deflnings  of  "janua " 
and  "  ostium,"  says  plainly :  "Apud  rabbinos  etiam  est 
'ostium  ventris  midiebris!  "  And  he  quotes  the  say- 
ing of  a  disappointed  bridegroom  :  "  Ostium  apertum 
invent." 3 

Among  the  early  Babylonians  and  Egyptians,  as 
among  other  primitive  peoples,  the  twofold  symbols 
of  sex  are  counted  the  sacred  emblem  of  life,  and  as 
such  are  borne  by  the  gods  of  life,  and  by  those  who 

1  This  legend  is  found  in  Pirqe  de  R.  Eliezer,  Chap.  XXX.  The  Hebrew 
words  saph  and  miphtci7i  are  here  employed  for  "threshold."  It  is  also 
given  in  Macoudi's  Les  Prairies  a"  Or,  chap.  39,  p.  94.  Here  the  Arabic  is 
'atabah,  for  "  threshold.''    See,  also,  Sprenger's  Life  of  Mohammad,  p.  53  f. 

2  See  Lane's  Arabic -English  Lexicon,  s.  v.  " '  Atabah  ;  "  and  Dozy's 
Supplement  aux  Dictionnaries  Arabes,  s.  v.  "  'Atabah." 

3  Buxtorf  s  Lex.  Chald.  Tal.  et  Rabb.,  s.  v.  "  Pethakh.''  See,  also,  the 
Talmudic  treatise  Niddd,  "  Mishna,"  g  2,  5. 


SYMBOL  OF  LIFE.  201 

have  the  power  of  life  and  death  from  those  gods. 
The  circle  and  rod,  or  ring  and  bolt,  conjoined,  are  in 
the  right  hand  of  the  Babylonian  sun-god  Shamash;1 
as,  in  the  ankli,  or  crux  ansata,  they  are  in  the  right 
hand  of  every  principal  deity  of  ancient  Egypt.2  It  is 
much  the  same  with  the  Phoenicians  and  others.3 

In  the  innermost  shrine  of  the  most  sacred  Shinto 
temples  of  Japan,  the  circular  mirror,  and  the  straight 
dagger,  with  the  same  meaning  as  the  circle  and  rod 
in  Babylonia  and  Egypt  and  Phoenicia,  are  the  only 
indications  of  the  presence  of  deity ;  and  the  wor- 
shipers in  those  temples  can  come  no  farther  than  the 
threshold  of  the  shrine  containing  these  emblems.4 

Wherever,  among  the  primitive  peoples  in  America, 
as  elsewhere,  the  red  hand  is  found  as  a  symbol  of 
covenant,  and  of  life  and  strength  through  covenant, 
it  would  seem  to  point  to  this  primal  meaning  of  the 
hand  stamp  of  blood  at  the  doorway  of  life  in  a  sacred 
covenant.     There  are  indications  in  Central  American 

1  See,  for  example,  illustration  in  Maspero's  Dawn  of  Civil.,  p.  657  ;  also 
Sayce's  Relig.  of  Anc.  Baby  I.,  p.  285. 

2  Wilkinson's  Ancient  Egyptians,  III.,  3,  8,  14,  18,  21,  22,  31,  36,  37, 
40,  41,  45,  46,  60,  63,  66,  87,  100,  107,  109,  115,  118,  122,  129,  133,  135, 
137,  146,  156,  158,  163,  170,  172,  175,  177,  179,  180,  etc. 

3  See  Perrot  and  Chipiez's  Hist,  of  Art  in  Phoenicia  and  Cyprus,  I.,  80, 
320.  See,  also,  Layard's  Nineveh  and  its  Remains,  II.,  168-170  (Am. 
ed.);  and  an  article  by  Hommel,  in  "  Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Bibli- 
cal Archaeology  "  for  January,  1893. 

4  Hearn's  Glimpses  of  Unfamiliar  Japan,  II.,  397,  note  ;  Lowell's  Occult 
Japan,  pp.  270-273. 


202  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

sculptures  of  the  sacredness  attaching  to  the  covenant 
rite  between  the  first  pair;  and  the  combined  symbols 
of  sex  are  represented  there  as  in  the  East.1 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  public  exhibit  of  the 
primitive  Threshold  Covenant,  as  here  explained,  has 
been  continued  as  a  mode  of  reverent  worship  among 
primitive  peoples  in  the  South  Sea  Islands,  down  to 
modern  times.  The  testimony  of  Captain  Cook,  the 
famous  navigator,  is  specific  on  this  point.2  It  is  also 
to  be  noted  that  in  these  islands  the  two  supports  of 
the  altar,  or  table  of  sacrifice,  are  seemingly  symbols 
of  the  two  sexes,  similar  to  those  used  in  the  far  East3 

All  of  the  gathered  facts  concerning  the  Threshold 
Covenant  in  different  lands  and  in  different  times,  as 
presented  in  the  foregoing  pages,  would  seem  to  be 
in  accordance  with  this  view  of  the  origin  of  the  rite, 
as  with  no  other  that  can  be  suggested.  The  main 
symbolism  of  both  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament 
also  seem  to  indicate  the  same  beginning. 

1  See  Bancroft's  Native  Races  and  Antiq.,  III.,  504-506. 
2  Voyages  of  Capt.  James  Cook,  "  First  Voyage  "  at  May  14,  1769.     Also 
Voltaire's  Les  Oreilles  du  Comte  de  Chesterfield,  Ch.  VI.     See  Appendix. 
3  See  Cook's  Voyage  to  Pacific  Ocean,  volume  of  plates ;    also  Ellis's 
Poly.  Res.,  II.,  217. 


v. 

HEBREW  PASS-OVER,  OR  CROSS-OVER, 
SACRIFICE. 


I.    NEW    MEANING    IN    AN    OLD    RITE. 

How  the  significance  of  the  Hebrew  passover  rite 
stands  out  in  the  light  of  this  primitive  custom  !  It  is 
not  that  this  rite  had  its  origin  in  the  days  of  the 
Hebrew  exodus  from  Egypt,  but  that  Jehovah  then 
and  there  emphasized  the  meaning  and  sacredness  of 
a  rite  already  familiar  to  Orientals.  In  dealing  with 
his  chosen  people,  God  did  not  invent  a  new  rite  or 
ceremonial  at  every  stage  of  his  progressive  revelation 
to  them  ;  but  he  took  a  rite  with  which  they  were 
already  familiar,  and  gave  to  it  a  new  and  deeper  sig- 
nificance in  its  new  use  and  relations. 

Long  before  that  day,  a  covenant  welcome  was  given 
to  a  guest  who  was  to  become  as  one  of  the  family, 
or  to  a  bride  or  bridegroom  in  marriage,  by  the  out- 
pouring of  blood  on  the  threshold  of  the  door,  and  by 

staining  the  doorway  itself  with  the  blood  of  the  cove- 

203 


204  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

nant.  And  now  Jehovah  announced  that  he  was  to 
visit  Egypt  on  a  designated  night,  and  that  those  who 
would  welcome  him  should  prepare  a  threshold  cove- 
nant, or  a  pass-over  sacrifice,  as  a  proof  cf  that  wel- 
come ;  for  where  no  such  welcome  was  made  ready 
for  him  by  a  family,  he  must  count  the  household  as 
his  enemy.1 

In  announcing  this  desire  for  a  welcoming  sacrifice 
by  the  Hebrews,  God  spoke  of  it  as  "  Jehovah's  pass- 
over,"  as  if  the  pass-over  rite  was  a  familiar  one,  which 
was  now  to  be  observed  as  a  welcome  to  Jehovah.2 
Moses,  in  reporting  the  Lord's  message  to  the  He- 
brews, did  not  speak  of  the  proposed  sacrifice  as  some- 
thing of  which  they  knew  nothing  until  now,  but  he 
first  said  to  them,  "  Draw  out,  and  take  you  lambs 
according  to  your  families,  and  kill  the  passover  " — 
or  the  threshold  cross-over ; 3  and  then  he  added  details 
of  special  instruction  for  this  new  use  of  the  old  rite 

2.    A    WELCOME    WITH    BLOOD. 

A  lamb  was  the  chosen  sacrifice  in  the  welcome  to 
Jehovah.  Each  household,  or  family,  was  to  take  one 
lamb  for  this  offering.  No  directions  were  given  as 
to  the  place  or  manner  of  its  sacrifice ;  for  that  seems 
to  have  been  understood  by  all,  because  of  the  very 

i  See  Exod.  12 :  1-20.     2  Exod.  12  :  11.     3  Exod.  12  :  21,  27. 


WELCOME  WITH  BLOOD.  205 

term  "  pass-over,"  or  threshold  cross-over.  This  is 
implied,  indeed,  in  the  directions  for  the  use  of  the 
blood  when  it  was  poured  out :  "  Kill  the  passover," 
in  the  usual  place;  "and  ye  shall  take  a  bunch  of 
hyssop,  and  dip  it  in  the  blood  that  is  at  the  thresh- 
old [Hebrew,  sapJi\y  and  strike  the  lintel  and  the  two 
side  posts  with  the  blood  that  is  at  the  threshold!' l 

In  that  welcome  with  blood  there  was  covenant 
protection  from  Jehovah  as  he  came  into  Egypt  to 
execute  judgment  on  his  enemies.  The  Egyptians 
had  already  refused  him  allegiance,  and  put  them- 
selves in  open  defiance  of  his  authority.  They  were 
now  to  be  visited  in  judgment.2  But  in  order  to  the 
distinguishing  of  the  Lord's  people  from  his  enemies, 
the  Hebrews  were  to  prepare  a  blood  welcome  at  their 
doorway,  and  the  Lord  would  honor  this  welcome  by 
covenanting  with  those  who  proffered  it. 

"And  Moses  said,  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  About  mid- 
night will  I  go  out  into  the  midst  of  Egypt :  and  all 
the  firstborn  in  the  land  of  Egypt  shall  die,  from  the 
firstborn  of  Pharaoh  that  sitteth  upon  his  throne,  even 
unto  the  firstborn  of  the  maidservant  that  is  behind 
the  mill ;  and  all  the  firstborn  of  cattle.  .  .  .  But  against 
any  of  the  children  of  Israel  shall  not  a  dog  move 
his  tongue,  against  man  or  beast :  that  ye  may  know 

1  Exod.  12  :  22. 
2  Exod.  2  :  23-25 ;  3  :  7-10 ;  5:1,2;  6  :  1-7 ;   10  :  21-29. 


206  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

how  that  the  Lord  doth  put  a  difference  between  the 
Egyptians  and  Israel."  J 

In  furtherance  of  this  purpose,  the  Lord  asked  for 
the  sacrifice  of  the  threshold  cross-over  by  the  He- 
brews :  "  For  the  Lord  will  pass  through  [the  land] 
to  smite  the  Egyptians ;  and  when  he  seeth  the  blood 
upon  the  lintel,  and  on  the  two  side  posts  [of  the 
Hebrew  homes],  the  Lord  will  pass  over  [cross-over 
or  through]  the  door,  and  will  not  suffer  the  destroyer 
to  come  in  unto  your  houses  to  smite  you."  2  Obvi- 
ously the  figure  here  employed  is  of  a  sovereign  ac- 
companied by  his  executioner,  a  familiar  figure  in  the 
ancient  East.  When  he  comes  to  a  house  marked  by 
tokens  of  the  welcoming  covenant,  the  sovereign  will 
covenant-cross  that  threshold,  and  enter  the  home  as 
a  guest,  or  as  a  member  of  the  family ;  but  where  no 
such  preparation  has  been  made  for  him,  his  execu- 
tioner will  enter  on  his  mission  of  judgment.3 

3.    BASON,  OR    THRESHOLD. 

It  is  strange  that  the  Hebrew  word  for  "threshold" 
(sapli)  in  this  narrative  is  translated  "  bason  "  in  our 
English  Bible.  It  is  because  of  this  that  the  identity 
of  the  passover  sacrifice  with  the  primitive  Threshold 
Covenant  is  so  generally  lost  sight  of.      This  word 

1  Exod.  11  :  4-7.  a  Exod.  12  :  23. 

3  Compare  Josh.  2  :  1  21 ;  6  :  16-25. 


TEMPLE  THRESHOLDS.  207 

sapli  occurs  many  times  in  the  Old  Testament  text, 
and  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  it  is  translated  "  thresh- 
old," or  "  door,"  or  "  door-post,"  or  the  like.1  It  would 
seem  that  it  should  be  so  translated  in  this  instance. 

In  some  cases  where  sapli  is  translated  "  bason,"  or 
"  cup,"  the  term  "  threshold  "  would  be  more  appro- 
priate, as  when  included  in  an  enumeration  of  the 
temple  furniture.2  Bronze  and  silver  thresholds  were 
often  mentioned  in  the  furniture  of  Babylonian  and 
Assyrian  temples  ; 3  and  they  might  well  have  had 
mention  among  the  Hebrews.  It  is  possible,  however, 
that  there  was  a  cavity,  as  a  blood  receptacle,  in  the 
threshold  of  houses  or  temples  where  sacrifices  were 
so  frequent ;  and  this  would  account  for  the  use  of 
the  word  saph  as  "bason,"  even  where  it  referred  to 
the  threshold  of  the  door. 

The  translators  of  the  Septuagint,  living  in  Egypt 
and  familiar  with  the  customs  of  that  land,  rendered 
saph  by  tliyra,  "  doorway," 4  in  the  story  of  the 
exodus.  Jerome,  with  his  understanding  of  Oriental 
life,  gives  Kment  "  threshold,"  for  saph,  at  this  point.5 
Philo  Judseus,  out  of  his  Egyptian  Jewish  experiences, 

1  See,  for  example,  Judg.  19  :  27  ;  1  Kings  14  :  17  ;  2  Kings  12  :  9,  13  ; 
22  :  4 ;  23  :  4  ;  25  :  18  ;  1  Chron.  9  :  19,  22  ;  2  Chron.  3:7;  23  :  4 ;  34  :  9  ; 
Esther  2:21;  6:2;  Isa.  6:4;  Jer.  35  :  4 ;  52  :  19,  24 ;  Ezek.  40  :  6,  7  ; 
41  :  16  ;  43  :  8  ;  Amos  9:1;  Zeph.  2  :  14 ;  Zech.  12  :  2. 

2  See.  for  example,  Jer.  52  :  19.  3  See  pp.  109-111,  supra. 
4  See  Sef>f?/a<rhrt,  in  loco.  5  See  Vulgate,  in  loco. 


208  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

describing  the  Jewish  passover  festival,  speaks  of  it  as 
"the  feast  diabatcria,  which  the  Jews  called  paskha."1 
" ' Diabatei'ia"  are  "offerings  before  crossing  a  border,"2 
or  threshold  sacrifices.  Rabbi  Ishmael,  a  Talmudist, 
in  explaining  the  passage  descriptive  of  the  institution 
of  the  passover  in  Egypt,  says  :  "  One  dug  a  hole  in 
the  [earthen]  threshold,  and  slaughtered  into  that," 
"  for  saph  signifies  here  nothing  else  than  threshold."3 

A  striking  illustration  of  the  error  of  translating 
saph  "  a  bason  "  or  "  a  cup,"  is  shown  in  the  render- 
ing of  Zechariah  12  :  1-3  in  our  English  Bible.  The 
Lord  is  there  promising  to  protect  the  borders  of  Jeru- 
salem against  all  besiegers.  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord, 
which  .  .  .  layeth  the  foundation  of  the  earth :  .  .  .  Be- 
hold, I  will  make  Jerusalem  a  threshold  [or,  boundary 
stone,  Hebrew,  sap/ij  of  reeling  unto  all  the  peoples 
round  about.  ...  I  will  make  Jerusalem  a  burdensome 
stone  for  all  the  peoples."  The  figure  seems  to  be 
that  of  the  besiegers  staggering  as  they  come  against 
that  foundation,  or  threshold  stone,  which  the  Lord 
has  established.  Yet  saph  is  here  translated  "  cup," 
and  the  passage  thereby  rendered  meaningless. 

There  would  seem,  indeed,  to  be  little  room  for 
doubt  that  saph  should  be  translated  "  threshold  "  in 

1  Philo's  Opera,  Mangey,  2  :  292. 

2  Liddell  and  Scott's  Greek-English  Lexicon,  s.  v. 

3  Cited  in  Levy's  Neuhcb.  Worterb.,  s.  v.  "  Saph." 


PASS-OVER  OR  PASS-BY.  209 

the  description  of  the  pass-over  sacrifice.  In  Assyrian, 
the  word  sippu,  from  the  same  root  as  the  Hebrew 
saph,  means  only  threshold,  not  bason  or  cup.1 

4.    PASS-OVER  OR   PASS-BY. 

The  common  understanding  of  the  term  "  passover," 
in  connection  with  the  Hebrew  exodus  from  Egypt,  is 
that  it  was,  on  the  Lord's  part,  a  passing  by  those 
homes  where  the  doorways  were  blood-stained,  with- 
out entering  them.  Yet  this  meaning  is  not  justified 
by  the  term  itself,  nor  by  the  significance  of  the  primi- 
tive rite.  Jehovah  did  not  merely  spare  his  people 
when  he  visited  judgment  on  the  Egyptians.  He 
covenanted  anew  with  them  by  passing  over,  or  cross- 
ing* over,  the  blood-stained  threshold  into  their  homes, 
while  his  messenger  of  death  went  into  the  houses  of 
the  Lord's  enemies  and  claimed  the  first-born  as  be- 
longing to  Jehovah.2 

1  This  on  the  authority  of  Prof.  Dr.  H.  V.  Hilprecht. 
2  Among  primitive  peoples  it  was  a  common  thought  that  the  first  fruits 
of  life  in  any  sphere  belonged  of  right  to  God,  or  the  gods.  This  was 
true  of  the  fields,  of  the  flocks  and  herds,  and  of  the  family.  (See,  for 
example,  Frazer's  Golden  Bough,  II..,  68-78,  373"384'  als°  w-  Robertson 
Smith's  Religion  of  the  Semites,  pp.  443-446.)  As  in  Egypt  particular 
gods  were  supposed  to  have  power  over  men  and  beasts  in  special  locali- 
ties, the  first-born  belonged  to  them,  and  stood  as  representing  their  power 
and  protection ;  yet  Jehovah  claimed  to  be  Lord  over  all.  And  now,  at 
the  close  of  the  contest  between  God  and  the  gods,  Jehovah  took  to  him- 
self out  of  the  homes  of  his  enemies  the  devoted  first-born  of  man  and  of 
beast,  in  evidence  of  the  truth  that  the  gods  of  Egypt  could  not  protect 
them. 

14 


2IO  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

This  word  pcsakh,  translated  "  passover,"  is  a  pecu- 
liar one.  Its  etymology  and  root  meaning  have  been 
much  in  discussion.  It  is  derived  from  the  root 
pasakh  "to  cross  over,"  a  meaning  which  is  still  pre- 
served in  the  Hebrew  word  Tiphsakh,  the  name  of  a 
city  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates,1  the  Hebrew 
equivalent  of  the  classical  Thapsacus.2  Tiphsakh  means 
"  crossing,"  apparently  so  called  from  the  ford  of  the 
Euphrates  at  that  place. 

Later  Jewish  traditions  and  customs  point  to  the 
meaning  of  the  original  passover  rite  as  a  crossing 
over  the  threshold  of  the  Hebrew  homes  by  Jehovah, 
and  not  of  his  passing  by  his  people  in  order  to  their 
sparing.  A  custom  by  which  a  Hebrew  slave  became 
one  of  the  family  in  a  Hebrew  household,  through 
having  his  ear  bored  with  an  awl  at  the  door-post  of 
the  house,  and  thereby  blood  staining  the  doorway,3 
is  connected  with  the  passover  rite  by  the  rabbis. 
"The  Deity  said:  The  door  and  the  side-posts  were 
my  witnesses  in  Egypt,  in  the  hour  when  I  passed- 
over  the  lintel  and  the  two  side-posts,  and  I  said  that 
to  Me  the  children  of  Israel  shall  be  slaves,  and  not 
slaves  to  slaves ;  I  brought  them  out  from  bondage 
to  freedom ;    and  this  man  who  goeth  and  taketh  a 

1  I  Kings  4  :  24,  "Tiphsah." 

2  See  Gesenius's  Hebr.  nnd  Aram.  Handw'orterbuch  (12th  ed.),  s.  v. 
"  Tiphsakh." 

3  Exod.  21  :  2-6. 


PASSOVER   TRADITIONS.  211 

lord  to  himself  shall  be  bored  through  before  these 
witnesses."  * 

According  to  Jewish  traditions,  it  was  on  a  passover 
night  when  Jehovah  entered  into  a  cross-over  cove- 
nant with  Abraham  on  the  boundary  of  his  new  pos- 
sessions in  Canaan.2  It  was  on  a  passover  night  that 
Lot  welcomed  the  angel  visitors  to  his  home  in  Sodom.3 
It  was  at  the  passover  season  that  the  Israelites  crossed 
the  threshold  of  their  new  home  in  Canaan,  when  the 
walls  of  Jericho  fell  down,  and  the  blood -colored 
thread  on  the  house  of  Rahab  was  a  symbol  of  the 
covenant  of  the  Hebrew  spies  with  her  and  her  house- 
hold.4 The  protection  of  the  Israelites  against  the 
Midianites,5  and  the  Assyrians,6  and  the  Medes  and 
the  Persians,7  and  again  the  final  overthrow  of  Baby- 
lon,8 all  these  events  were  said  to  have  been  at  the 
passover  season.9  These  traditions  would  seem  to 
show  that  the  pass-over  covenant  was  deemed  a  cross- 
over covenant,  and  a  covenant  of  welcome  at  the  family 
and  the  national  threshold. 

In  the  passover  rite  as  observed  by  modern  Jews,  at 
a  certain  stage  of  the  feast  the  outer  door  is  opened, 

1  Talmud  Babyl.,  Qiddusheen,  fol.  22,  b. 

2  Gen.  15  :  1-21.     See  pp.  186-188,  supra.  3  Gen.  19  :  1-25. 

4  Compare  Josh.  2  :  1-20 ;  5  :  10-12  ;  6  :  12-17.  5  Judg.  7  •'  1-25. 

6  2  Kings  19  :  20-36 ;  2  Chron.  32 :  1-22.  7  Esther  9  :  12-19. 

8  Dan.  5  :  1-30. 

9  Edersheim's  Temple :  Its  Ministry  and  Services,  p.  196  f. 


212  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

and  an  extra  cup  and  chair  are  arranged  at  the  table, 
in  the  hope  that  God's  messenger  will  cross  the  thresh- 
old, and  enter  the  home  as  a  welcome  guest.1  All  this 
points  to  the  meaning  of  "  cross-over,"  and  not  of 
"  pass-by." 

In  some  parts  of  northern  and  eastern  Europe  there 
is  a  custom  still  preserved  among  the  Jews  of  jumping 
over  a  tub  of  water  on  passover  night,  which  is  said  to 
be  symbolic  of  crossing  the  Red  Sea,  but  which  shows 
that  the  passover  feast  was  a  feast  of  crossing  over.2 

5.    MARRIAGE    OF   JEHOVAH    WITH    ISRAEL. 

It  seems  clear  that  the  Egyptian  passover  rite  was 
a  rite  of  threshold  covenanting,  as  ordered  of  God  and 
as  understood  by  the  Israelites.  Its  sacrifice  was  on 
the  threshold  of  the  homes  of  the  Hebrews  on  the 
threshold  of  a  new  year,3  and  on  the  threshold  of  a 
new  nationality.  Then  Israel  began  anew  in  all 
things.  Moreover,  it  was  recognized  as  the  rite  of 
marriage  between  Jehovah  and  Israel ;  as  the  very 
Threshold  Covenant  had  its  origin  in  the  rite  of  primi- 
tive marriage. 

That  first  passover  night  was  the  night  when  Jeho- 

1  Edersheim's  The  Temple :  Its  Ministry  and  Services,  p.  197 ;  Home 
and  Synagogue  of  Modern  Jew,  pp.  159 -161;  Ginsburg's  art.  "  Pass- 
over,''  in  Kitto's  Cycl.  of  Bib.  Lit. 

2  On  the  testimony  of  Rev.  Dr.  Marcus  Jastrow. 
3  Exod.  12  :  1,  2 ;   Lev.  23  :  5  ;  9:1,2. 


MARRIAGE  OF  JEHOVAH  WITH  ISRAEL.  213 

vah  took  to  himself  in  covenant  union  the  "Virgin  of 
Israel,"  and  became  a  Husband  unto  her.  From  that 
time  forward  any  recognition  of,  or  affiliation  with, 
another  God,  is  called  "  whoredom,"  "  adultery,"  or 
"fornication."1  In  this  light  it  is  that  the  prophets 
always  speak  of  idolatry. 

Jeremiah  recognizes  the  first  passover  night  as  the 
time  of  this  marriage  covenant,  when  he  says  : 

"  Behold,  the  days  come,  saith  Jehovah, 
That  I  will  make  a  new  covenant 

With  the  house  of  Israel,  and  with  the  house  of  Judah  : 
Not  according  to  the  covenant  that  I  made  with  their  fathers 
In  the  day  that  I  took  them  by  the  hand 
To  bring  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt ; 
Which  my  covenant  they  brake, 
Although  I  was  an  husband  unto  them,  saith  Jehovah."  2 

And  Jehovah,  speaking  through  Ezekiel  of  his  loving 
choice  of  the  Hebrew  daughter  of  the  Amorite  and 
the  Hittite,  says  :  "  Now  when  I  passed  by  thee,  and 
looked  upon  thee,  behold,  thy  time  was  the  time  of 
love  ;  and  I  spread  my  skirt  over  thee,  and  covered 
thy  nakedness :  yea,  I  sware  unto  thee,  and  entered 
into  a  covenant  with  thee,  saith  the  Lord  God,  and 
thou  becamest  mine."3 

1  See,  for  example,  Exod.  34  :  12-16;  Lev.  17  :  7;  20  :  5-8;  Num. 
x5  :  39.  4°  I  Deut.  31  :  16 ;  Judg.  2  :  17  ;  8  :  27,  33 ;  2  Kings  9  :  22,  23  ; 
1  Chron.  5  :  25 ;  2  Chron.  21  :  11 ;  Psa.  73  :  27 ;  106  :  38,  39  ;  Isa.  57  :  3  ; 
Jer.  3  :  1-15,  20  ;  13  :  27 ;  Ezek.  6:9;  16  :  1-63  ;  20  :  30  ;  23  :  1-49  ; 
Hos.  1:2;  2:2;  3:1;  4:  12-19  '.  5  :  3>  4  J  6  :  6,  7,  10. 

2  Jer.  31  :  31,  32  ;  also  Heb.  8  :  8,  9.  3  Ezek.  16  :  8. 


214  THE  THRESHOLD  CO  VENA  XT. 

It  seems  to  be  in  recognition  of  the  truth  that  the 
Egyptian  passover  was  the  rite  of  marriage  between 
Jehovah  and  Israel,  that  the  Song  of  Songs,  the  epitha- 
lamium  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  is  always  read  in 
the  synagogue  at  the  passover  service.  This  idea  of 
the  relation  of  Jehovah  and  Israel  runs  through  the 
entire  Old  Testament,  and  shows  itself  in  the  Jewish 
ritual  of  to-day. 

In  the  primitive  marriage  rite  the  stamp  of  the  red 
hand  of  the  bridegroom  is  the  certification  of  the  cove- 
nant union,  at  the  doorway  of  the  family.  But  in  the 
Egyptian  passover  it  was  the  virgin  of  Israel  who 
certified  to  the  marriage  covenant  by  the  bloody 
stamp  on  the  doorway.  Hence  it  was  a  feminine 
symbol,  in  a  bush  of  hyssop,  that  was  dipped  in  the 
blood  and  used  for  this  stamping.1  The  tree,  or  bush, 
is  a  universal  symbol  of  the  feminine  in  nature.  This 
is  shown,  for  example,  in  the  tree  or  brush-topped 
pole  as  the  symbol  of  Ashtaroth,  "wife,"2  as  over 
against  the  pillar  or  obelisk  as  the  symbol  of  Baal, 
or  "  lord,"  or  "  husband."  3 

1  Exod.  12 :  22. 

2  W.  Robertson  Smith's  Religion  of  the  Semites,  pp.  169-176,  and  Stade's 
Geschichte,  p.  460. 

3  Compare  Exod.  34  :  12-16  ;  Deut.  7  :  5  ;  12:3;  Judg.  3:752  Kings 
23  :  4 ;  2  Chron.  33  :  3,  etc. 


VI. 
CHRISTIAN  PASSOVER. 


I.    OLD    COVENANT    AND    NEW. 

In  the  New  Testament  the  rites  and  symbols  of 
the  Old  Testament  find  recognition  and  explanation. 
This  is  peculiarly  true  of  the  passover  service.  It  was 
a  central  fact  in  the  gospel  story.  The  sacrifice,  or 
offering,  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Saviour,  was  made  at 
that  season  ; 1  and  it  was  evident  that  he  himself  felt 
that  it  was  essential  that  this  be  so.  He  held  back 
from  Jerusalem  until  the  approach  of  the  passover 
feast,  when  he  knew  that  his  death  was  at  hand.2 
And  his  last  passover  meal  was  made  the  basis  of  the 
new  memorial  and  symbolic  covenant  meal  with  his 
disciples.3  The  passover  sacrifice  is  as  prominent  in 
the  New  Testament  as  in  the  Old. 

Paul,  familiar  with  Jewish  customs  by  study  and 

i  Matt.  26  :  1-5 ;  John  13  :  1. 

2  Matt.  16  :  21  ;  26  :  17,  18  ;  John  2  :  13 ;  7  ■  i"9« 

3  Matt.  26  :  17-30 ;  Mark  14  :  12-28  ;  Luke  22  :  7-20. 

215 


2l6  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

experience,  writing  to  Corinthian  Christians  of  their 
duty  and  privileges  as  members  of  the  household  of 
faith,  urges  them  to  make  a  new  beginning  in  their 
lives,  as  the  Israelites  made  a  new  beginning  on  the 
threshold  of  every  year  at  the  passover  festival,  with 
its  accompanying  feast  of  unleavened  bread,  when  all 
the  lay-over  leaven  from  a  former  state  was  put  away. 
"  Purge  out  the  old  leaven,"  he  says,  "  that  ye  may  be 
a  new  lump,  even  as  ye  are  unleavened.  For  our 
passover  also  hath  been  sacrificed,  even  Christ."  l 

2.    PROFFERED    WELCOME    BY   THE    FATHER. 

The  primitive  passover  sacrifice  was  an  offering  of 
blood  by  the  head  of  the  household  on  the  threshold 
of  his  home,  as  a  token  of  his  welcome  to  the  guest 
who  would  cross  over  that  blood  and  thereby  become 
one  with  the  family  within.  It  was  not  an  outsider 
or  a  stranger  who  proffered  a  threshold  sacrifice,  but 
it  was  the  house-father  who  thus  extended  a  welcome 
to  one  who  was  yet  outside.  The  welcoming  love 
was  measured  by  the  preciousness  of  the  sacrifice. 
The  richer  the  offering,  the  heartier  the  welcome.2 

In  the  Egyptian  passover  the  threshold  sacrifice 
was  a  proffer  of  welcome  to  Jehovah  by  the  collective 
family  in  each  Hebrew  home.      In  the  Christian  pass- 

1  I  Cor.  5  :  7,  8.  2  See  pp.  3-5,  supra. 


TRAMPLING  ON  THE  BLOOD.  21 7 

over  it  was  the  sacrifice  of  the  Son  of  God  on  the 
threshold  of  the  Father's  home,  the  home  of  the  family 
of  the  redeemed,  as  a  proffer  of  welcome  to  whoever 
outside  would  cross  the  outpoured  blood,  and  become 
a  member  of  the  family  within.  Therefore  it  is  writ- 
ten :  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only 
begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  him  should 
not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life."1  And  "for  this 
cause,"  says  Paul,  "  I  bow  my  knees  unto  the  Father, 
from  whom  every  family  in  heaven  and  on  earth  is 
named."2 

Among  primitive  peoples,  as  among  the  Jews,  no 
indignity  could  equal  the  refusal  of  a  proffered  guest- 
welcome,  in  a  rude  trampling  on  the  blood  of  the 
threshold  sacrifice,  instead  of  crossing  over  it  rever- 
ently as  a  mode  of  its  acceptance.  Hence  the  peculiar 
force  of  the  words  of  the  Jewish-Christian  writer  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  concerning  the  mis-treat- 
ment of  God's  threshold  sacrifice,  in  the  Son  of  God 
offered  as  our  passover  :  "  A  man  that  hath  set  at 
nought  Moses'  law  dieth  without  compassion  on  the 
word  of  two  or  three  witnesses  :  of  how  much  sorer 
punishment,  think  ye,  shall  he  be  judged  worthy,  who 
hath  trodden  under  foot  the  Son  of  God,  and  hath 
counted  the  blood  of  the  covenant,  wherewith  he  was 

1  John  3  :  16.  J  Eph.  3  :  14,  15. 


21 8  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

sanctified  [separated  from  the  outside  world],  an  un- 
holy [a  common]  thing,  and  hath  done  despite  unto 
the  Spirit  of  grace  ?  "  l 

3.    BRIDEGROOM    AND    BRIDE. 

All  through  the  New  Testament,  Jesus,  the  out- 
pouring of  whose  blood  is  "  our  passover  "  welcome 
from  the  Father,  is  spoken  of  as  the  Bridegroom,  and 
his  church  as  the  Bride.  His  coming  to  earth  is  re- 
ferred to  as  the  coming  of  the  Bridegroom — as  was 
the  coming  of  Jehovah  to  the  Virgin  of  Israel  in 
Egypt.  He  likened  himself  to  a  bridegroom.  And 
his  coming  again  to  his  church  is  foretold  as  the 
meeting  of  the  Bridegroom  and  the  Bride. 

John  the  Baptist,  forerunner  of  Jesus,  speaking  of 
his  mission  as  closing,  and  that  of  Jesus  as  opening 
out  gloriously,  says  :  "  Ye  yourselves  bear  me  witness, 
that  I  said,  I  am  not  the  Christ,  but,  that  I  am  sent 
before  him.  He  that  hath  the  bride  is  the  bride- 
o-room  :  but  the  friend  of  the  bridegroom,  which 
standeth  and  heareth  him,  rejoiceth  greatly  because 
of  the  bridegroom's  voice  :  this  my  joy  therefore  is 
fulfilled.      He  must  increase,  but  I  must  decrease."2 

Jesus,  referring  to  the  charge  against  his  disciples, 
that  they  did  not  fast,  as  did  the  disciples  of  John, 

1  Heb.  10  :  28,  29.  2  John  3  :  28-30. 


BRIDE  OF  CHRIST.  219 

said :  "  Can  the  sons  of  the  bride-chamber  mourn,  as 
long  as  the  bridegroom  is  with  them  ?  but  the  days 
will  come,  when  the  bridegroom  shall  be  taken  away 
from  them,  and  then  will  they  fast."  1 

Paul  repeatedly  refers  to  this  relation  between  Christ 
and  his  church:  "The  head  of  every  man  is  Christ; 
and  the  head  of  the  woman  is  the  man ;  and  the  head 
of  Christ  is  God."2  "The  husband  is  the  head  of  the 
wife,  as  Christ  also  is  the  head  of  the  church.  .  .  . 
Husbands,  love  your  wives,  even  as  Christ  also  loved 
the  church,  and  gave  himself  up  for  it.  .  .  .  He  that 
loveth  his  own  wife  loveth  himself:  for  no  man  ever 
hated  his  own  flesh ;  but  nourisheth  and  cherisheth  it, 
even  as  Christ  also  the  church  ;  because  we  are  mem- 
bers of  his  body.  For  this  cause  shall  a  man  leave 
his  father  and  mother,  and  shall  cleave  to  his  wife ; 
and  the  twain  shall  become  one  flesh.  This  mystery 
is  great :  but  I  speak  in  regard  of  Christ  and  of  the 
church." 3 

In  the  Apocalypse,  the  inspired  seer  looking  into 
the  future,  at  the  consummation  of  the  present  age, 
tells  of  the  glorious  vision  before  him,  when  Christ 
shall  come  to  claim  his  own :  "  I  heard  as  it  were  the 
voice  of  a  great  multitude,  and  as  the  voice  of  many 
waters,  and  as  the  voice  of  mighty  thunders,  saying, 

1  Matt.  9  :  14,  15  ;   Mark  2  :  19,  20  ;   Luke  5  :  34,  35. 
2  1  Cor.  11  :  3.  3  Eph.  5  :  23-33. 


220  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

Hallelujah  :  for  the  Lord  our  God,  the  Almighty, 
reigneth.  Let  us  rejoice  and  be  exceeding  glad,  and 
let  us  give  the  glory  unto  him  :  for  the  marriage  of  the 
Lamb  is  come,  and  his  wife  hath  made  herself  ready. 
And  it  was  given  unto  her  that  she  should  array  her- 
self in  fine  linen,  bright  and  pure  :  for  the  fine  linen  is 
the  righteous  acts  of  the  saints.  And  he  saith  unto 
me,  Write,  Blessed  are  they  which  are  bidden  to  the 
marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb."  ' 

And  again  he  says  :  "  I  saw  the  holy  city,  new 
Jerusalem,  coming  down  out  of  heaven  from  God, 
made  ready  as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband.  .  .  . 
And  there  came  one  of  the  seven  angels ;  .  .  .  and  he 
spake  with  me,  saying,  Come  hither,  I  will  shew  thee 
the  bride,  the  wife  of  the  Lamb.  And  he  carried  me 
away  in  the  Spirit  to  a  mountain  great  and  high,  and 
shewed  me  the  holy  city  Jerusalem,  coming  down  out 
of  heaven  from  God,  having  the  glory  of  God :  .  .  . 
having  a  wall  great  and  high;  having  twelve  gates. 
And  I  saw  no  temple  therein :  for  the  Lord  God  the 
Almighty,  and  the  Lamb,  are  the  temple  thereof.  .  .  . 
And  the  gates  thereof  shall  in  no  wise  be  shut  by  day 
(for  there  shall  be  no  night  there)  :  and  they  shall 
bring  the  glory  and  the  honor  of  the  nations  into 
it :  and  there  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  it  anything 
unclean,  or  he  that  maketh  an  abomination  and  a  lie : 

1  Rev.  19  :  6-9. 


SURVIVALS  OF  THE  RITE.  221 

but  only  they  which  are  written  in  the  Lamb's  book 
of  life."  x 

A  closing  declaration  of  the  seer  is,  that  the  church 
as  the  Bride,  with  the  representative  of  the  Bride- 
groom until  his  coming,  waits  and  calls  for  his  return  : 
"  The  Spirit  and  the  bride  say,  Come.  .  .  .  Come, 
Lord  Jesus." 2  And  so,  from  the  Pentateuch  to  the 
Apocalypse,  the  Scriptures,  Hebrew  and  Christian, 
recognize  and  emphasize  the  primitive  Threshold 
Covenant  as  the  beginning  of  religious  rites,  and  as 
symbolic  of  the  spirit  of  all  true  covenant  worship. 

4.    SURVIVALS    OF    THE    RITE. 

Survivals  of  the  primitive  Threshold  Covenant  are 
found  in  various  customs  among  Oriental  Christians, 
and  Christians  the  world  over.  Thus  Easter  is  still 
looked  at  in  some  regions  as  the  continuance  of  Pass- 
over, and  the  blood  on  the  threshold  is  an  accompani- 
ment of  the  feast.  Among  the  modern  Greeks,  each 
family,  as  a  rule,  buys  a  lamb,  kills  it,  and  eats  it  on 
Easter  Sunday.  "  In  some  country  districts  the  blood 
[of  the  lamb]  is  sometimes  smeared  on  the  threshold 
of  the  house."  3  Easter,  like  the  Jewish  Passover,  is 
the  threshold  of  the  new  ecclesiastical  year. 

At  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher,  in  Jerusalem, 

1  Rev.  21  :  1,  2-9,  12,  22-27.  2  Ibid.,  22  :  17,  20. 

3  J.  G.  Frazer  in  Folk- Lore  Journal,  I.,  275. 


222  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

a  principal  incident  in  the  Easter  festivities  is  the 
bringing  down  of  fire  from  heaven  at  the  opening  of 
the  new  ecclesiastical  year.1  This  ceremony  seems  to 
be  a  survival  of  the  primitive  custom  of  seeking  new 
life,  in  its  symbol  of  fire,  at  the  threshold  of  the  home 
and  of  the  new  year,  in  the  East  and  in  the  West.2 

In  the  sacredness  of  the  rite  of  the  primitive  Thresh- 
old Covenant  there  is  added  emphasis  to  the  thought 
which  causes  both  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  and 
the  Greek  Church  to  count  marriage  itself  a  sacra- 
ment.  And  thus  again  to  the  claim  that  a  virgin  who 
is  devoted  to  a  religious  life  is  a  "  spouse  of  Christ," 
and  that  her  marriage  to  an  earthly  husband  is  adul- 
tery.3 Many  another  religious  custom  points  in  the 
same  direction. 

1  See  Maundrel's  Journey,  pp.  127-131  ;  Hasselquist's  Voyages  and 
Travels,  pp.  136-138;  Thomson's  Land  and  Book,  II.,  556  f . ;  Stanley's 
Sinai  and  Palestine,  pp.  464-469. 

2  See  pp.  22  f.,  39-44,  supra. 

3  See  Smith  and  Cheetham's  Diet,  of  Christian  Antiq.,  art.  "  Nun." 


VII. 

OUTGROWTHS  AND   PERVERSIONS 
OF  THIS  RITE. 


I.    ELEMENTAL    BEGINNINGS. 


Apart  from  the  mooted  question  of  the  origin  and 
development  of  man  as  man, — whether  it  be  held  that 
he  came  into  being  as  an  incident  in  the  evolutionary 
progress  of  the  ages,  or  that  his  creation  was  by  a 
special  fiat  of  the  Author  of  all  things, — it  is  obvious 
that  there  was  a  beginning,  when  man  first  appeared 
as  a  higher  order  of  being  than  the  lower  animals 
then  in  existence.  The  distinguishing  attribute  of 
man,  as  distinct  from  the  lower  animals  at  their  best, 
is  the  capacity  to  conceive  of  spiritual  facts  and  forces. 
Even  at  his  lowest  estate  man  is  never  without  an 
apprehension  of  immaterial  and  supernatural  person- 
alities, intangible  yet  real  and  potent.  The  lower 
animals  at  their  highest,  and  under  the  most  effective 
training,  give  no  indication  of  the  possibility  of  such  a 

conception  on  their  part. 

223 


224  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

Both  the  Bible  record  and  the  disclosed  facts  of 
science  show  man  at  the  start  in  a  primitive  state, 
with  only  elemental  beginnings  of  knowledge  or 
thought  or  skill.  No  claim  is  made  for  him,  by  any 
advocate  of  his  pre-eminence  in  creation,  that  he  then 
had  skill  in  the  arts,  or  attainment  in  civilization,  or 
that  he  was  possessed  of  a  religious  theory  or  ritual 
of  even  the  simplest  character.  It  is  a  matter  of  inter- 
est and  importance  to  trace  the  course  of  man's 
progress  from  the  first  to  the  present  time,  and  to  see 
how  the  good  and  the  evil  showed  themselves  along 
the  line,  from  the  same  germs  of  thought  and  conduct 
rightly  used  or  misused.  The  primitive  rite  of  the 
Threshold  Covenant,  here  brought  out  as  initial  and 
germinative,  seems  to  present  a  reasonable  solution 
of  the  observed  course  in  religious  development  and 
in  religious  perversions  in  the  history  of  mankind 
from  the  beginning  until  now. 

Before  primitive  man  could  have  concerned  himself 
seriously  with  the  course  of  the  heavenly  bodies,  or 
the  changes  of  the  seasons,  or  the  points  of  compass 
and  the  correspondent  shifting  of  the  winds,  he  must 
have  recognized  the  sacred  mystery  of  life  and  its 
transmission.  It  would  seem  that  a  covenant  involved 
in  the  union  of  twain  made  one  over  outpoured  blood, 
with  power  from  the  Author  of  life  for  the  trans- 
mission of  life,  must  have  been  the  primal  religious 


MAIN  OUTGROWTHS.  22$ 

rite  that  brought  man's  personal  action  into  the  clear 
light  of  a  covenant  relation  with  his  Creator.  Every 
subsequent  development  of  the  religious  idea,  good 
and  bad,  pure  and  impure,  would  seem  to  be  traceable 
as  an  outgrowth,  or  as  a  perversion,  of  this  elemental 
religious  rite. 

2.    MAIN    OUTGROWTHS 

It  would  seem  clear  that  the  primal  idea  of  a  cove- 
nant union  between  two  persons,  and  between  those 
persons  and  their  God,  was  found  in  the  initial  and 
primitive  rite  of  marriage,  with  its  outpoured  blood, 
or  gift  of  life,  on  the  threshold  of  being ;  and  that  this 
rite  contained  in  itself  the  germs  of  covenanting  and 
of  sacrifice,  and  the  idea  of  an  altar  and  a  sacrament, 
where,  and  by  which,  man  and  God  were  brought  into 
loving  communion  and  union.  Thus  the  beginning 
of  religious  rites  was  found  in  the  primal  Threshold 
Covenant  as  here  portrayed. 

Out  of  this  beginning  came  all  that  is  best  and 
holiest  in  the  thought  of  sacrifice  and  sacrament  and 
spiritual  communion.  The  very  highest  development 
of  religious  truth,  under  the  guidance  of  progres- 
sive revelation  from  God,  and  of  man's  growth  in 
thought  and  knowledge  with  the  passing  ages,  is 
directly  in  the  line  of  this  simple  and  germinal  idea. 
Both  the  Bible  record  and  the  record  of  outside  his- 

i5 


226  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

tory  tend  to  confirm  this  view  of  religious  rites  in 
their  beginning  and  progress. 

New  life  as  a  consequence  of  blood,  or  life,  sur: 
rendered  in  holy  covenanting,  is  a  natural  inference 
or  outgrowth  of  the  truth  of  the  primal  Threshold 
Covenant.  Thus  the  thought  of  life  after  death,  in 
the  resurrection  or  in  metempsychosis,  comes  with 
the  recognition  of  the  simple  fact  of  the  results  of 
covenant  union  in  the  sight,  and  with  the  blessing, 
of  the  Author  of  life,  in  the  rite  of  the  Threshold 
Covenant.1 

The  transference  of  the  altar  of  threshold  covenant- 
ing, from  the  persons  of  the  primary  pair  in  the  family 
to  the  hearthstone  or  entrance  threshold  of  the  home 
or  family  doorway,  with  the  accompaniment  of  fire  as 
a  means  of  giving  and  sustaining  life  to  those  who  sat 
at  the  common  table  or  altar,  in  the  covenant  meal  or 
sacrament  of  hospitality,  brought  about  the  custom 
of  sacramental  communion  feasts  with  guests  human 
and  divine.  And  so,  also,  there  came  the  rites  of 
worship,  with  the  altar  of  burnt  sacrifice  or  of  incense, 
and  the  marriage  torch,  and  the  doorway  fire,  and  the 
threshold  or  hearthstone  covenant  at  a  wedding.  Out 
of  this  thought  there  came  gradually  and  naturally 
the  prominence  of  the  altar  and  the  altar  fire  in  private 

1  See  "Blood  Covenant,"  pp.  310-313. 


SUN  AS  LIFE-GIVING  POWER.  227 

and  public  worship,  as  it  obtains  both  in  the  simpler 
and  in  the  more  gorgeous  ecclesiastical  rituals.1 

In  conjuction  with  the  place  of  fire  on  the  family 
altar  in  the  Threshold  Covenant,  there  came  naturally 
the  recognition  of  fire  and  warmth  and  light  as  gifts 
of  God  for  the  promotion  and  preservation  of  life  to 
those  who  were  dependent  on  him.  Thus  the  sun  as 
the  life-giving  fire  of  the  universe  came  to  be  recog- 
nized as  a  manifestation  of  God's  power  and  love.  Its 
agency  m  bringing  new  life  after  death,  in  the  course 
of  the  changing  seasons,  led  men  to  connect  the 
movements  of  the  heavenly  bodies  with  God's  deal- 
ings with  man  in  the  line  of  his  covenant  love.  The 
too  common  mistake  has  been  of  thinking  of  this  view 
of  celestial  nature  as  the  origin  of  man's  religious 
rites,  instead  of  as  an  outgrowth  of  the  primal  re- 
ligious rite,  which  antedated  man's  study  of,  or  wonder 
over,  the  workings  of  the  elements  and  the  course  of 
the  heavenly  bodies. 

In  summing  up  the  results  of  such  a  study  as  this, 
of  primitive  customs  and  their  outgrowth,  it  is  neces- 
sary only  to  suggest  a  few  of  the  more  prominent 
lines  of  progress  from  the  elemental  beginning,  leav- 
ing it  to  the  student  and  thinker  to  follow  out  these, 
and  to  find  others,  in  his  more  careful  and  further 
consideration  of  the  subject  in  its  varied  ramifications. 

1  See  pp.  22  f.,  39-44,  99-164,  supra. 


228  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

It  is  sufficient  now  to  affirm  that  the  Old  Testament 
and  the  New  point  to  this  primitive  rite  of  the  Thresh- 
old Covenant  as  a  basis  of  their  common  religious 
ritual;  and  that  gleams  of  the  same  germinal  idea 
show  themselves  in  the  best  features  of  all  the  sacred 
books  of  the  ages.  It  would  be  easy,  did  time  and 
space  allow,  to  follow  out  in  detail  the  indications  that 
all  modes  of  worship  in  sacrifice,  in  oblation,  in  praise, 
and  prayer,  in  act  and  in  word,  are  but  natural  ex- 
pressions of  desire  for  covenant  union  with  Deity,  and 
of  joy  in  the  thought  of  its  possession,  as  based  on 
the  fact  of  such  covenanting  sought  and  found  in  the 
primal  religious  rite  of  the  human  race. 

3.    CHIEF    PERVERSIONS. 

With  the  world  as  it  is,  and  with  man  as  he  is, 
every  possibility  of  good  has  a  corresponding  possi- 
bility of  evil.  Good  perverted  becomes  evil.  Truth 
which,  rightly  used,  proves  a  savor  of  life,  will,  when 
misused,  prove  a  savor  of  death.1  And  that  which  is 
a  symbol  of  truth  becomes  a  means  of  misleading 
when  looked  at  as  if  it  were  in  itself  the  truth. 

The  primitive  Threshold  Covenant  as  an  elemental 
religious  rite  was  holy  and  pure,  and  had  possibilities 
of  outgrowth  in  the  direction  of  high  spiritual  attain- 
ment and  aspiring.     But  the  temptation  to  uplift  the 

1  2  Cor.  2  •  16. 


CHIEF  PER  VERSIONS.  229 

agencies  in  this  rite  into  objects  deemed  of  themselves 
worthy  of  worship  resulted  in  impurity  and  deteriora- 
tion, by  causing  the  symbol  to  hide  the  truth  instead 
of  disclosing  it. 

Among  the  earliest  forms  of  a  temple  as  a  place  of 
worship  was  the  ziggurat,  or  stepped  pyramid,  erected 
as  a  mighty  altar,  with  its  shrine,  or  holy  of  holies,  at 
the  summit,  wherein  a  bride  of  the  gods  awaited  the 
coming  of  the  deity  to  solemnize  the  primal  Thresh- 
old Covenant  in  expression  of  his  readiness  to  enter 
into  loving  communion  with  the  children  of  men.1 
From  this  custom  the  practice  of  Threshold  Cove- 
nanting at  the  temple  doorways  became  incumbent  on 
women  of  all  conditions  of  society  at  certain  times, 
and  under  certain  circumstances,  in  certain  portions 
of  the  world,  as  a  proof  of  their  religious  devotion,2 
and  thus  there  grew  up  all  the  excesses  of  sacred 
prostitution  in  different  portions  of  the  world.3 

The  prominence  given  to  the  two  factors  in  the 
primitive  Threshold  Covenant  as  a  sacred  religious  act, 
led  to  the  perversion  of  the  original  idea  by  making  the 
factors  themselves  objects  of  reverence  and  worship ; 

1  See,  for  example,  Herodotus's  History,  Bk.  I.,  chaps.  181,  182.  See 
pp.  in  f.,  supra. 

2  Herodotus's  History,  Bk.  I.,  chap.  199. 

3  See  Deut.  25  :  1-9.  See,  also,  chapter  on  "  Sacred  Prostitution  "  in 
Wake's  Serpent  Worship;  and  Professor  W.  M.  Ramsay's  "  Holy  City  of 
Phrygia,"  in  Contemporary  Review  for  October,  1893. 


230  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

and  separately,  or  together,  they  came  to  be  worshiped 
with  impure  and  degrading  accompaniments. 

Reverence  for  the  phallus,  or  for  phallic  emblems, 
shows  itself  in  the  earliest  historic  remains  of  Baby- 
lonia, Assyria,  India,  China,  Japan,  Persia,  Phrygia, 
Phoenicia,  Egypt,  Abyssinia,  Greece,  Rome,  Germany, 
Scandinavia,  France,  Spain,  Great  Britain,  North  and 
South  America,  and  the  Islands  of  the  Sea.  It  were 
needless  to  attempt  detailed  proof  of  this  statement, 
in  view  of  all  that  has  been  written  on  the  subject  by 
historians,  archaeologists,  and  students  of  comparative 
religions.1  It  is  enough  to  suggest  that  the  mistake 
has  too  often  been  made  of  supposing  that  this 
"  phallic  worship  "  was  a  primitive  conception  of  a 
religious  truth,  instead  of  a  perversion  of  the  earlier 
and  purer  idea  which  is  at  the  basis  of  the  highest 
religious  conceptions,  from  the  beginning  until  now. 

Quite  as  widely  extended,  in  both  time  and  space, 
as  the  worship  of  the  phallus  as  the  symbol  of  mascu- 
line potency,  is  the  recognition  of  the  tree  of  life  as  the 
symbol  of  feminine  nature  in  its  fruit-bearing  capacity. 
A  single  tree,  or  a  grove  of  trees,  or  the  lotus  flower, 
the  fig,  or  the  pomegranate,  with  the  peculiar  form  of 

1  See,  for  example,  Squier's  Serpent  Symbol ;  Forling's  Rivers  of  Life  ; 
Westropp's  and  Wake's  Ancient  Symbol  Worship  ;  Knight's  Worship  of 
Priapus  ;  Jennings's  Phallicism  ;  Frazer's  Golden  Bough  ;  Monier- 
Williams's  Brahmanism  and  Hinduism,  and  his  Buddhism  ;  Griffis's  Re- 
ligions  of  Japan,  etc. 


SYMBOLISM  OF  THE  CONE.  23  I 

their  seed  capsules,  appear  in  all  the  earlier  religious 
symbolisms,  over  against  the  phallus  in  its  realistic 
or  its  conventional  forms,  as  representative  of  repro- 
ductive life.1 

In  ancient  Assyrian  sculpture  the  most  familiar 
representation  of  spiritual  blessing  was  of  a  winged 
deity  with  a  basket  and  a  palm  cone,  touching  with 
the  cone  a  sacred  tree,  or  again  the  person  of  a 
sovereign,  as  if  imparting  thereby  some  special  benefit 
or  power.  This  representation  was  long  a  mystery  to 
the  archeologist,  but  a  recent  scholar  has  shown  that 
it  is  an  illustration  of  a  practice  common  in  the  East 
to-day,  of  carrying  a  cone  of  the  male  palm  to  a 
female  palm  tree,  in  order  to  vitalize  it  by  the  pollen.2 
The  cone  is  one  of  the  conventional  forms  of  the 
phallus,  worshiped  as  a  symbol  in  the  temples  of  the 
goddesses    of   the    East  in    earlier   days    and    later.3 

1  See,  for  example,  in  addition  to  the  books  just  cited,  Fergusson's  Tree 
and  Serpent  Worship;  Ohnefalach-Richter's  Kypros,  die  Bibelund  Homer; 
Hopkins's  Religions  of  India,  pp.  527  f.,  533,  540,  542. 

2  See  Dr.  E.  B.  Tyler's  article  on  "  The  Winged  Figures  of  the  Assyrian 
and  other  Ancient  Monuments,"  in  Proceedings  of  the  Soc.  of  Bib.  Arch., 
XII.,  Part  8,  pp.  383-393;  Dr.  Bonavia's  articles  on  "Sacred  Trees,'"  in 
Babylonian  and  Oriental  Record,  III.,  Nos.  1-4;  IV.,  Nos.  4,  5;  and 
De  Lacouperie's  articles  on  Trees,  ibid.,  IV.,  Nos.  5,  10,  11. 

3  See,  for  example,  Ohnefalach-Richter's  Kypros,  Tafel-Band,  pi.  lxxxii., 
figures  7,  8  ;  Donaldson's  Architectural  Medals  of  Classic  Antiquity,  pp. 
105-109 ;  Von  Loher  and  Joyner's  Cyprus  :  Historical  and  Descriptive,  p. 
153  f . ;  Perrot  and  Chipiez's  History  of  Art  in  Phmiicia  and  Cyprus,  I., 
123,  276  f,  281,  284,  331  f. ;  W.  Robertson  Smith's  Religion  of  the 
Semites,  p.  191. 


232  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

Hence  this  ancient  Assyrian  representation  is  an  illus- 
tration of  the  truth  that  the  primitive  threshold  cove- 
nant was  recognized  as  the  type  of  divine  power,  and 
covenant  blessing,  imparted  to  God's  representative, 
under  the  figure  of  the  phallus  and  the  tree. 

It  would  seem,  indeed,  that  the  pillar  and  the  tree 
came  to  be  the  conventional  symbols  of  the  male  and 
female  elements  erected  in  front  of  an  altar  of  worship,1 
and  that,  in  the  deterioration  of  the  ages,  these  sym- 
bols themselves  were  worshiped,  and  their  symbolism 
was  an  incentive  to  varied  forms  of  impurity,  instead 
of  to  holy  covenanting  with  God  and  in  God's  service. 
Therefore  these  symbols  were  deemed  by  true  wor- 
shipers a  perversion  of  an  originally  sacred  rite,  and 
their  destruction  was  a  duty  with  those  who  would 
restore  God's  worship  to  its  pristine  purity. 

Thus  the  command  to  Jehovah's  people  as  to  their 
treatment  of  the  people  of  Canaan  was  :  "  Take  heed 
to  thyself,  lest  thou  make  a  covenant  with  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  land  whither  thou  goest,  lest  it  be  for  a 
snare  in  the  midst  of  thee :  but  ye  shall  break  down 
their  altars,  and  dash  in  pieces  their  pillars  [or  male 
symbols],  and  ye  shall  cut  down  their  Asherim  [or 
trees  as  a  female  symbol] :  for  thou  shalt  worship  no 
other  god  :  for  the  Lord  [Jehovah],  whose  name  is 
Jealous,  is  a  jealous  God  :  lest  thou  make  a  covenant 

1  Compare  W.  Robertson's  Smith's  Religion  of  the  Semites,  p.  437  f. 


SYMBOLISM  OF  THE  SERPENT.  233 

with  the  inhabitants  of  the  land,  and  they  go  a  whor- 
ing- after  their  gods."1  Here  is  a  distinct  reference  to 
the  primitive  Threshold  Covenant  in  its  purity  and 
sacredness,  and  to  its  perversion  in  the  misuse  of  the 
phallus  and  tree  in  their  symbolism. 

Again  the  command  was  explicit  to  the  Israelites : 
"  Thou  shalt  not  plant  thee  an  Asherah  of  any  kind  of 
tree  beside  the  altar  of  the  Lord  thy  God,  which  thou 
shalt  make  thee.  Neither  shalt  thou  set  thee  up  a 
pillar  ;  which  the  Lord  thy  God  hateth." 2 

From  the  earliest  historic  times  the  serpent  seems 
to  have  been  accepted  as  a  symbol  of  the  nexus  of 
union  between  the  two  sexes,  and  to  be  associated, 
therefore,  with  the  pillar  and  the  tree,  as  suggestive 
of  the  desire  that  may  be  good  or  evil,  according  to 
its  right  or  wrong  direction  and  use.  Its  place  as  a 
symbol  has  been  at  the  threshold  of  palace  and  temple 
and  home,  with  limitless  powers  of  evil  in  its  misuse.3 

1  Exod.  34  :  12-15  ;  Deut.  7:5.  2  Deut.  16  :  21,  22. 

3  There  seems,  indeed,  to  be  a  connection  between  the  Hebrew  words, 
miphtan,  "threshold,"  and  pethen,  "asp,"  "adder,"  or  "serpent,"  as  first 
pointed  out  to  me  by  Mr.  Montague  Cockle.  Although  the  verbal  root 
is  not  preserved  in  the  Hebrew,  there  is  no  valid  reason  for  doubting  that 
they  go  back  to  the  same  root.  In  Arabic,  the  verb  is  preserved  as 
pathana,  "  to  tempt."  Its  derivatives  indicate  the  same  meaning.  This 
would  seem  to  confirm  the  connection  of  the  primitive  threshold,  the 
serpent,  and  temptation.  In  Leland's  Etruscan  Roman  Remains  (p. 
131  f.)  are  citations  from  several  ancient  works,  and  references  to  cur- 
rent Italian  traditions,  showing  the  supposed  connection  of  the  serpent 
with  the  threshold,  the  phallus,  and  married  life,  that  are  in  obvious  con- 
firmation of  the  views  here  expressed. 


234  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

"  Mighty  snakes  standing  upright,"  together  with 
"  mighty  bulls  of  bronze  "  were  "  on  the  threshold  of 
the  gates  "  in  ancient  Babylon.1  A  serpent  wreathed 
the  phallus  boundary  stone  (as  if  suggestive  of  its 
being  a  thing  of  life)  on  the  threshold  of  Babylonian 
domains.2  As  a  symbol  of  life  and  life-giving  power 
the  serpent  stood  erect  above  the  head  of  the  mightiest 
kings  of  Egypt,  who  gave  and  took  life  at  their  pleas- 
ure,3 and  it  even  accompanied  the  winged  sun-orb  in 
its  manifestation  of  light  and  warmth  and  life  over  the 
grandest  temples  of  ancient  Thebes.4  The  Egyptian 
goddess  Ket,  or  Kadesh,  "  Mistress  of  Heaven,"  a 
divinity  borrowed  from  the  Semites,  was  represented 
as  standing  on  a  lioness,  with  lotus  flowers,  their 
stems  coiled  in  circular  form,  in  her  right  hand,  and 
two  serpents  in  her  left  hand,  as  she  came  with  her 
offering  to  Min,  or  Khem,  the  god  of  generative  force.5 
A  similar  representation  of  a  goddess  of  life  is  found 
in  ancient  Assyrian  remains. 

In  the   representation   of  Nergal,  the  lord   of  the 

1  See  p.  109  f.,  supra;  also,  Schrader's  Keilinschriftliche  Bibliothek, 
Vol.  III.,  Pt.  2,  p.  72  f. 

2  See,  for  example,  Rawlinson's  Cuneiform  Inscriptions  of  Western 
Asia,  III.,  p.  45. 

3  See  Erman's  Life  hi  Anc.  Egypt,  p.  60. 

4  Ibid.,  p.  259,  vignette  illustration. 

5  See  Wilkinson's  Anc.  Egypt.,  III.,  235,  pi.  lv.,  fig.  2.  Prisse's  Mon. 
Egypt,  pi.  xxxvii.  ;  also  Layard's  Nineveh  and  its  Remains,  p.  i6q  (Am. 
ed.),  and  W.  Max  Muller's  Asien  und  Europa,  p.  314. 


A  PURE  INSTINCT  PER  VER  TED.  235 

under  world,  in  the  ancient  Babylonian  mythology, 
the  phallus  and  the  serpent  were  identical.1  Beltis- 
Allat,  consort  of  Nergal,  and  lady  of  the  under  world, 
brandished  a  serpent  in  either  hand.  She  was  guar- 
dian of  the  waters  of  life  which  were  under  the  thresh- 
old of  the  entrance  of  her  realm.2 

That  which  was  primarily  a  holy  instinct  became, 
in  its  perversion,  a  source  of  evil  and  a  cause  of  dread; 
hence  the  serpent  became  a  representative  of  evil 
itself,  and  the  conflict  with  it  was  the  conflict  between 
good  and  evil,  between  light  and  darkness.  This  is 
shown  in  the  religions  of  ancient  Babylonia,  Egypt, 
and  India,  and  Phoenicia  and  Greece,  and  Mexico  and 
Peru,  and  various  other  countries.3 

Vishnoo  and  his  wife  Lakshmi,  from  whom,  accord- 
ing to  Hindoo  teachings,  the  world  was  produced,  and 
by  whom  it  continues  or  must  cease,  are  represented 
as  seated  on  a  serpent,  as  the  basis  of  their  life  and 
power.4      Siva,   also,   giver  and   destroyer  of  life,   is 

1  See  Perrot  and  Chipiez  s  History  of  Art  in  Chaldea  and  Assyria,  I., 
349  f.  See,  also,  Layard's  Monuments,  Series  ii.,  pi.  5,  for  representation 
of  the  conflict  between  Marduk  and  Tiamat.  The  serpent  is  there  shown 
on  the  feminine  Tiamat  where  it  appears  on  the  masculine  Nergal. 

2  See  Maspero's  Dawn  of  Civilization,  pp.  690-696 ;  Sayce's  Relig.  of 
Anc.  Babylonia,  p.  286. 

3  See  Sayce's  Relig.  of  Anc.  Babylonia,  pp.  281-283  '<  Wilkinson's  Anc. 
Egypt.,  III.,  141-155;  Fergusson's  Tree  and  Serpent  Worship,  pp.  5-72; 
Squier's  Serpent  Symbol,  pp.  137-254  ;  Reville's  Amative  Religions  of  Mexico 
and  Peru,  pp.  29-32,  53,  166. 

*  See  Wilkins's  Hindu  Mythology,  p.  99. 


236  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

crowned  with  a  serpent,  and  a  serpent  is  his  necklace, 
while  the  symbol  of  his  worship  is  the  linga  inyoni} 
A  mode  of  Hindoo  worship  includes  the  placing  of  a 
stone  linga  between  two  serpents,  and  under  two  trees, 
the  one  a  male  tree  and  the  other  a  female  tree.2  And 
in  various  ways  the  serpent  appears,  in  connection 
with  different  Hindoo  deities,  as  the  agent  of  life- 
giving  or  of  life-destroying.3  A  suggestive  repre- 
sentation of  Booddha  as  the  conqueror  of  desire  shows 
him  seated  restfully  on  a  coiled  serpent,  the  hooded 
head  of  which  is  a  screen  or  canopy  above  his  head.4 
Apollo,  son  of  Zeus,  was  the  slayer  of  the  man- 
destroying  serpent  at  Delphi ;  yet  the  serpent,  when 
conquered,  became  a  means  of  life  and  inspiration  to 
others.5  ^Esculapius,  the  god  of  healing,  a  son  of 
Apollo,  was  represented  by  the  serpent  because  he 
gave  new  life  to  those  who  were  dying.  Serpents 
were  everywhere  connected  with  his  worship  as  a 
means  of  healing.6  The  female  oracle  who  repre- 
sented Apollo  at  Delphi  sat  on  a  tripod  formed  of 
entwined  serpents.7     Serpents  on  the  head  of  Medusa 

1  See  Wilkins's  Hindu  Mythology,  p.  218. 

2  Maurice's  Indian  Antiq.,  V.  182  f.  3  n,id.t  V. 

*  See  frontispiece  of  Sir  Monier  Monier- Williams's  Buddhism  ;  see,  also, 
Fergusson's  article  on  "The  Amravati  Tope"  in  "Journal  of  the  Royal 
Asiatic  Society,"  Vol.  III.,  Pt.  1,  pp.  132-166. 

5  See  Keightley's  Mythology,  art.  "Phoebus-Apollo." 

6  See  "^Esculapius,"  in  Smith's  Classical  Dictionary. 

7  See  Herodotus's  History,  Bk.  IX.,  chap.  81. 


THE  SERPENT  IN  EDEN  237 

were  a  means  of  death  to  the  beholder ;  and  these 
serpents  were  given  to  Medusa  instead  of  hair  because 
of  her  faithlessness  and  sacrilege  in  the  matter  of  the 
Threshold  Covenant.1  Thus  the  good  and  the  evil  in 
that  which  the  serpent  symbolized  were  shown  in  the 
religions  of  the  nations  of  antiquity,  and  serpent  wor- 
ship became  one  of  the  grossest  perversions  of  the 
idea  of  the  primitive  Threshold  Covenant. 

As  in  the  matter  of  phallic  worship  and  tree  wor- 
ship, so  in  this  of  the  worship  of  the  serpent,  it  would 
seem  unnecessary  to  multiply  illustrations  of  its 
prominence  in  various  lands,  when  so  many  special 
treatises  on  the  subject  are  already  available.2  It  is 
only  necessary  to  emphasize  anew  the  fact  that  the 
evident  thought  of  the  symbol  is  an  outgrowth  or  a 
perversion  of  the  idea  of  the  primitive  Threshold 
Covenant. 

The  form  of  the  Bible  narrative,  portraying  the  first 
temptation  and  the  first  sin,  seems  to  show  how  early  the 
symbolism  of  the  tree  and  the  serpent  was  accepted 
in  popular  speech.  From  that  narrative  as  it  stands 
it  would  appear  that  the  first  act  of  human  disobedi- 
ence was  incontinence,  in  transgression  of  a  specific 

1  See  "Gorgones,"  in  Smith's  Classical  Dictionary. 

2  See,  for  example,  Maurice's  Indian  Antiquities  ;  Fergusson's  Tree  and 
Serpent  Worship;  Forlong's  Rivers  of  Life,  I.,  93-322;  Wake's  Serpent 
Worship,  pp.  81-106. 


238  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT. 

command  to  abstain,  at  least  for  a  time,  from  carnal 
intercourse.  Desire,  as  indicated  by  the  serpent, 
prompted  to  an  untimely  partaking  of  the  fruit  of  the 
forbidden  tree,  and  the  consequences  of  sin  followed. 
The  results  of  this  act  of  disobedience,  as  recorded  in 
the  sacred  text,1  make  evident  the  correctness  of  this 
view  of  the  case.  When  the  Bible  narrative  was  first 
written,  whenever  that  was,  the  terms  "tree,"2  "fruit" 
of  the  tree,3  "knowledge,"4  "serpent,"  were  familiar 
figures  of  speech  or  euphemisms,  and  their  use  in  the 
Bible  narrative  would  not  have  been  misunderstood 
by  readers  generally.  Probably  there  was  no  question 
as  to  this  for  many  centuries.  It  was  not  until  the 
dull  prosaic  literalism  of  the  Western  mind  obscured 
the  meaning  of  Oriental  figures  of  speech  that  there 
was  any  general  doubt  as  to  what  was  affirmed  in  the 
Bible  story  of  the  first  temptation  and  disobedience.5 
Philo  Judseus  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era, 
seems  to  understand  this  as  the  meaning  of  the  narra- 
tive in  Genesis,  and  he  applies  the  teachings  of  that 

1  Gen.  3  :  7,  10-13,  J6- 

2  See,  for  example,  Psa.  128  :  3 ;  Prov.  3  :  18 ;  11  :  30;  Ezek.  19  :  10. 

3  See,  for  example,  Gen.  30  :  2;  Deut.  7  :  13 ;  28  :  4,  18,  53;  30:  9  ; 
Psa.  127  :  3  ;  132  :  11  ;  Song  of  Songs  4  :  16  ;  Isa.  13  :  18  ;  Micah  6:7; 
Acts  2  :  30. 

4  See,  for  example,  Gen.  4  :  1,  17,  25  ;  38  :  26;  Judg.  11  :  39  ;  19  :  25  ; 
1  Sam.  1  :  19 ;  1  Kings  1:4;  Matt.  1  :  25. 

5  Gen.  3  :  1-13. 


JEWISH  AND  EARLY  CHRISTIAN  IDEAS.   239 

narrative  accordingly.1  There  are  indications  that  the 
rabbis  looked  similarly  at  the  meaning  of  the  Bible 
text.  There  are  traces  of  this  traditional  view  in  dif- 
ferent Jewish  writings.2 

Evidently  the  original  meaning  was  still  familiar 
in  the  early  Christian  ages.  But  its  becoming  con- 
nected with  false  doctrines  and  heresies,  as  taught 
by  the  Ophites  and  other  Gnostic  sects,  seems  to 
have  brought  the  truth  itself  into  disrepute,  and 
finally  led  to  its  repudiation  in  favor  of  a  dead 
literalism.3  The  curse  resting  on  the  serpent,  in 
consequence  of  the  first  sin  of  incontinence,  was  the 
degradation  of  the  primitive  impulse,4  unless  uplifted 
again  by  divine  inspiration.5  Because  of  their  breach 
of  the  covenant  of  divine  love  our  first  parents  were 
expelled  from  their  home  of  happiness,  and  the  guar- 
dians of  the  threshold  forbade  their  return  to  it.6 

In  the  closing  chapters  of  the  New  Testament,  as  in 
the  opening  chapters  of  the  Old,  the  symbolism  of  the 

1  See,  for  example,  Philo  Judseus's  Works,  "  On  the  Creation,"  I., 
53-60;  "  On  the  Allegories  of  the  Sacred  Laws,"  I.,  15-20;  "  Questions 
and  Solutions,"  I.,  31-41. 

2  See,  for  example,  Midrasch  Bereschit  i?rt^a,pararshah  18,  §  6,  in  com- 
ments on  Gen.  2  :  25 ;  Weber's  Die  Lehren  d.  Talmud  (ed.  1866),  pp. 
210-213. 

3  See  Clement  of  Alexandria's  Miscellanies,  III.,  17;    also  Irenaeus's 

Against  Heresies,  I.,  30. 

4  Gen.  3  :  14,  15. 

5  Compare  Num.  21  :  4-9 ;  2  Kings  18:4;  John  3  :  14,  15. 

6  Gen.  3  :  22-24. 


240  THE  THRESHOLD  COVENANT 

tree  and  the  serpent,  and  the  covenant  relations 
involved  in  crossing  the  threshold,  appear  as  familiar 
and  well-understood  figures  of  speech.  "The  dragon, 
the  old  serpent,  which  is  the  Devil  and  Satan," ! 
representing  unholy  desire,  is  shut  out  from  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  New  Jerusalem.  Within  the  gates  of  that 
city  is  there  the  tree  of  life  watered  by  the  stream  that 
flows  from  under  the  throne  of  power.2  The  city 
threshold  is  the  dividing  line  between  light  and  dark- 
ness, good  and  evil,  life  and  death.  "  Blessed  are  they 
that  wash  their  robes,  that  they  may  have  the  right  to 
come  to  the  tree  of  life,  and  may  enter  in  by  the  gates 
into  the  city.  Without  are  the  dogs,  and  the  sorcerers, 
and  the  fornicators,  and  the  murderers,  and  the  idol- 
ators,  and  every  one  that  loveth  and  maketh  a  lie."3 

Thus  it  is  in  the  Hebrew  and  Christian  Scriptures, 
at  their  beginning  and  at  their  close.  And  there  are 
traces  of  the  same  truth  in  the  teachings  of  the  various 
religions,  and  of  the  more  primitive  customs  and  sym- 
bolisms. The  all-dividing  threshold  separates  the 
within  from  the  without ;  and  a  covenant  welcome 
there  gives  one  a  right  to  enter  in  through  the  gates 
into  the  eternal  home,  to  be  a  partaker  of  the  tree  of 
life,  with  its  ever-renewing  and  revivifying  fruits. 

1  Rev.  20  :  1,  2.         2  Ibid.,  21  :  1-27;  22  :  1,  2.         3  Ibid.,  22  :  14,  15. 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX. 


SIGNIFICANCE  OF  BLOOD  IN  THE  MARRIAGE  RITE.1 

In  ^Egypto  Superiori,  quemadmodum  in  aliis  regionibus,  ubi 
mores  prisci  praeservati  vigent,  matrimonium  eousque  non  con- 
summatur,  donee,  examine  institute,  sponsus  sanguinem,  ceu 
testimonium  virginitatis  sponsae  elicuerit.  Linteolum  quoddam 
singulare,  mucinii  vel  mappae  speciem  prae  se  ferens,  a  parenti- 
bus  sponsae  ad  obryssam  hanc  praeparatur. 

Quum  sponsus  vigilia  nuptiarum  sponsam  convenit,  linteolum 
istud  digito  circumvolvit,  atque  periculum  virginitatis  instituit. 
Sanguis  linteolum  maculis  cruentans  fit  insigne  ac  testimonium 
sponsi  autographum  virginitatis  sponsae  intemeratae  atque 
comprobatae,  necnon  tessera  eius  in  uxorem  accitae.  Ipsum 
linteolum,  manu  sua  cruenta  quasi  sigillo  signatum,  parentibus, 
qui  illud,  tamquam  indubitatum  castitatis  filiae  suae  virginalis 
servatae  testimonium,  insimul  et  pignus  sacri  foederis  sui  con- 
nubii  custodiant,  thesauri  instar  recondendum  redditur.  Re- 
ceptio  pignoris  evidentiaeque  tarn  castitatis  illibatae  quam 
matrimonii  iuncti,  inter  amicos,  qui  prae  foribus  cubiculi  nup- 
tialis  adventum  linteoli  praestolantur,  causa  exsistit  gaudii  laeti- 
tiaeque  exsultantis. 

Verumenimvero  si  nee  manamen  sanguinis,  nee  rubrum 
manus  cruentatae  vestigium  occasione  istiusmodi  se  prodiderint, 

1  See  p.  196,  supra. 

243 


244  APPENDIX. 

turba  amicorum  in  limine  conclavis  nuptialis  praestolantium, 
loco  exsultationis  laetae  moerore  tristi  luget  atque  plangorem 
eiulatumque  saevum  ciet;  aut  vero  silentium,  eloquens  luctus 
indicium,  inter  eos  regnat,  nam  dolor  est  illatus  domui  decore 
honoris  orbatae,  cuius  parem  ne  mors  ipsa  quidem  gignere  pos- 
sit.  Si  res  sic  se  habent,  sponsa  libello  repudii,  absque  vinculo 
connubii,  a  sponso  dimittitur.  Ast  si  digitus  suus  tactu  cruore 
manante  contaminetur,  ab  ipso  eo  momento  sua  fit  uxor,  etiamsi 
consummatio  coniugii,  ut  moris  est,  ad  usque  triduum  aut  heb- 
domadem  differatur.1 

Id  quod  foedus  inter  se  suamque  sponsam  figit  atque  sancit, 
est  cruoris  tactu  sponsi  eliciti  profluvium.  Meatum  in  pene- 
tralia suae  essentiae  incisione  aperiens,  sponsus  "  caedit  foedus  " 
cum  ea  in  conspectu  sui  Creatoris,  ad  litteram.2  Sponsus 
"nocte  nuptiarum  sanguinem  virginalem  offerens,"  fit  sponsus 
sanguineus,  "  khatan  damim."3  In  hoc  rerum  statu  divulsio 
est  quod  coniungit,  atque  vestigium  manus  cruentum  est  quod 
instrumentum  foederis  subministrat. 

Sponsus,  loco  proprii  digiti  ansa  interdum  clavis  ianuae  ligneae 
pristinae,  specie  digito  simili,  quae  linteolo  hoc  obvolvitur, 
examen  instituit,  eo  quod  haec,  aperiendo  penetralia  intemerata, 
quae    penetrare1    praeter   se   liceat   nemini,    actum    reseratus 

1  Vide  Lane's  Mod.  Egypt.,  II,  241;  item  Skertchley's  Dahomey  As 
It  Is,  p.  499. 

2  Foedus  pangere  Hebraice  Karath  idem  sonat  ac  "  caedere.''  Vide 
Gen.  15  :  17-19  ;  21  :  22-24,  etc.  Vide  etiam  Trumbull's  Blood  Covenant, 
pp.  265-267,  322  et  sea.,  Lane's  Arab.  Ettg.  Lex.,  et  Freytag's  Lex.  Arab. 
Latin,  s.  vv.  "  Khatan,"  "  Khatana." 

3  Vide  Fuerst's  Heb.  Lex.,  s.  v.  "  Khatan  ;  "  etiam  Exod.  4  :  25,  26. 
4  Burckhardt,  in  suis  Proverbiis  Arabicis  (pp.  139  seqq.),  moris  huius 
meminit ;  Lane  autem  in  suo  Modern  Egyptians  (I,  218)  idem  perhibet. 
Verum  ego  loquar  de  quaestione  e  fontibus  fide  dignis  testium  integer- 
rimorum.  Burckhardt  enim  asserit  "  clavim  "  magis  idoneam  putari  a 
plebecula  in  ^Egypto  Superiori  in  examine  hoc  instituendo  quam  digitum. 


APPENDIX.  245 

imagine  quadam  symbolica  significet.  Signaculum  tamen 
cruentum  in  linteolo  utroque  in  casu  eiusdem  omnino  est  mo- 
ment! 

Pari  modo  camisia  sponsae  communis,  loco  mucinii  vel  telae, 
soluit  notam  manus  cruentae  recipere,  quae  ut  testimonium 
matrimonii  identidem  custodiri  consuevit.  Caeterum  hae  sunt 
moris  vigentis  variationes  exiliores,  nee  quae  referantur  dignae, 
nisi  ut  declarent,  quam  sint  testimonia  variorum,  qui  haec  per- 
hibuerint,  secum  pugnantia.1 

EXHIBITING  THE   EVIDENCES. 

In  Syria,  veluti  in  ^Egypto,  tela  cruenta,  vel  indusium  san- 
guine maculatum  loco  probae  castitatis  testimoniique  matrimonii 
habetur.  In  Sinis  "  linteolum  "  ferculo  a  famulo  offertur  sponso, 
ubi  is  cubiculum  nuptiale  primum  intrat,  quod  hie  thalamo  in- 
sternit,  parentibus  sponsae,  sanguine  inquinatum  ad  praeser- 
vandum  traditurus.2  Apud  Dahomeanos  thalamus,  nocte  nup- 
tiarum  gossypina  nova  impressa  (vulgo  "calico")  consternitur, 
postero  autem  die,  si  cuncta  e  sententia  successerint,  godo 
(ligatura,  quae  Anglis  "  T  bandage  "  sonat)  ad  amicos  sponsae 
cum  triumpho  deportatur  .  .  .  dum  sponsus  lodiculam  thalami 
exhibet.3 

In  ^gypto  indumenta  nuptialia,  vestigiis  manus  cruentae 
notata,  "  erant  post  nuptias  supra  fores  domus  rustici  suspensa."  4 
Alias  sponsa  poterat  postridie  nuptiarum  amicis  se  sistere  in- 
dusio  sanguine  maculato  supra  alias  vestes  induta,  atque  in 
responsum  coram  eis  congratulantibus  saltare  rogata.5    Soluit, 

1  Burckhardt  meminit  differentiae  cuiusdam  huiusmodi ;  constat  tamen 
eum  morem  camisiam  sponsae  adhibendi  nonnisi  cognovisse. 

2  Gray's  China,  I,  207.  3  Skertchley's  Dahomey  As  It  Is,  p.  499. 
4  Lane's  Modem  Egyptians,  I,  221,  nota.  5  Ibid. 


246  APPENDIX. 

porro,  indusium  hoc  amicis  visum  venientibus  exhiberi,  aut  vero 
ad  examinandum  a  vicinis  in  domos  circumferri1  Mores  con- 
similes  in  quibusdam  etiam  Syriae  partibus  usuvenerunt. 

Ubi  mappa  vel  pannus  specialis  in  JEgypo  Superiori  ad- 
hibetur,  haec,  quamprimum  madere  cruore  contingat,  a  sponso 
mulieribus  praestolantibus  foras  exporrigitur.  Mater  sponsae, 
earn  obtentam  marito  tradit,  hie  autem  tiarae  (Turcis  turbaii) 
suae  apponit,  seque  primoribus  senioribusque  populi  in  aedibus 
suis  ut  hospites  congregatis  sistit.  Hi,  testimonium  istud  illi- 
batae  filiae  suae  castitatis  servatae  intelligentes,  atque  insimul 
earn  nunc  foedere  matrimonii  in  uxorem  accitam,  inclinatione 
reverenter  facta,  ei  apprecantes  aiunt:  "Fidem  facio."2 

In  oris  Africae  occiduis,  apud  populos  magis  primaevos,  in- 
dumentum sanguine  commaculatum  vicinis  exhiberi  consuevit. 
Quinimo  et  apud  humaniores  Christianorum  gentes  mos  viget 
vestem  hanc  die  Solis  post  nuptias  in  fana,  ut  a  cunctis  cernatur, 
deferendi  atque  exhibendi.3  Siquidem  absque  veste  hac  cru- 
entata  indicium  matrimonii  est  nullum. 

Ritus  nuptiales  apud  veteres  Aztec  atque  Nahuas,  gentes 
Americae  Centralis,  a  ritibus  Ariorum  priscorum  haud  fuerunt 
absimiles.  Quum  enim  sponsa  a  suis  amicis  ad  novum  dedu- 
ceretur  domicilium,  ibidem  a  sponso  excipiebatur.  Utrisque 
erat  thuribulum  thusque  cremabant,  in  matta  coram  focum 
domesticum  simul  sedentes.  Turn  sacerdos  accessit,  atque  eos 
ritu  sacro  in  matrimonium  coniugavit.  Hinc  se  in  fanum  con- 
tulerunt,  in  limine  cuius  sacerdotes  praestolantes  eos  exceperunt. 
In  cubiculo  proprio  in  fano  morantes,  triduum  tresque  noctes 
exercitiis  pietatis  dediti,  secum  ipsis  transigere  debebant,  tribus 

1  Burckhardt's  Arabic  Proverbs,  p.  140. 

2  Facta  haec  a  testibus  fide  dignis  teneo. 

3  Haec  testimonio  sacerdotis  ^Ethiopici  in  Liberia  nituntur. 


APPENDIX.  247 

vetulis  custoditi  atque  invigilati.  Nocte  quarta,  quum  connu- 
bium  consummandum  erat,  sacerdotes  duo  thalamum  suum 
praepararunt,  tumque  relicti  sunt  secum  ipsi  soli.  "  Nonnullis 
in  locis  proba  virginitatis  iuvencae  postridie  nuptiarum  postu- 
labatur.  In  quibuslibet  nuptiis  moris  erat  ut  sponsores 
cubiculum,  ubi  nupturientes  pernoctassent,  intrarent,  atque 
camisiam  sponsae  tradi  postularent ;  quam,  si  cruore  infectam 
reperissent,  foras  proferrent,  perticae  appenderent,  atque  ceu 
testimonium,  sponsam  virginem  fuisse,  visui  exhiberent ;  turn 
choreae  institutae  totaque  loca  peragrata  saltando,  debacchando 
summaque  laetitia  exsultando  ;  quae  omnia  '  camisiam  saltare  ' 
appellari  consueverunt.  Si  quando  camisiam  sanguine  non 
maculari  contigerit,  gaudia  lacrymis  ac  plangori  cesserunt 
locum,  non  secus  ac  maledicta,  sugillationes  dicteriaque  solu- 
erunt  in  sponsam  iactari,  insimul  vero  et  marito  ius  erat  earn 
libello  repudii  donare." * 

"  Si  Muhammadanus  puellam  in  uxorem  ducit,  atque  lege 
pacti  connubialis  earn  virginem  castam  esse  oportere  stipula- 
verit,  indicia  eiusdem  interdum  exigere  consuevit.  Quando- 
quidem  familia  earn,  casu  quo  indicio  hoc  caruerit,  repudio 
remittendam  exspectare  debeat,  pater  sollicita  cura  cavebit  ut 
habeat  quo  se,  si  forte  filia  sua  iacturam  indicii  virginitatis  fecis- 
set,  purgare  possit.  Halebii  versanti  mihi  audire  contigit  Arabem 
quemdam  a  Cadi  documentum  impetrasse,  atque  a  testibus  sub- 
signari  curasse,  quo  ostenderetur  filiam  camelo  delapsam  detri- 
mentum  tulisse. 

"  Muhammadani,  de  foeminis  suis  interrogati,  aegre  invitique 
respondent.  Attamen  post  longam  diuturnamque  cum  iis  con- 
suetudinem,  data  occasione,  contigit  mihi  hac  de  re  cum  qui- 
busdam  eorum  disseruisse,  ex  quo  intellexi  Arabes  humaniores 

1  Bancroft's  Native  Races  ("  Civilized  Nations  "),  II,  256-261. 


248  APPENDIX. 

linteaminibus  sordidatis  parum  fidei  praestare.  .  .  .  Viri  inter- 
dum  deliquium  cruoris,  velut  testimonium  debilitatis  propriae, 
vulgo  innotescere  abnuunt. 

"  Muhammadanis  in  Iemen  atque  in  India  persuasum  est 
aiuntque  lintea  infecta  visui  offerre  viro  perquam  dedecere. 
Nee  profecto,  nisi  curiositas  muliebris  atque  agnati,  res  huius- 
modi  insectantur.  A  mente  sana  neminem  tarn  alienum  ex- 
istimandum  arbitrantur  quam  quibus  haec  praeservanda  vide- 
antur.  Proinde  linteum  hoc  apud  eos  eluitur  traditurque  ut  usui 
consueto  inter  linteamina  domestica  restituatur.  Percontanti 
mihi  Iudaeus  quidam  de  Iudaeis  et  Muhammadanis  Mus- 
catensibus,  Christianus  vero  aliquis  de  Christianis  et  Muham- 
madanis Halebitis  idem  significaverat.  Busrae  tamen  audisse 
mihi  licuit  dari  mulieres  ordinis  plebeii,  quae  tesseram  hanc 
pristinae  suae  castitatis  velut  vindicias  praeservare  solitae  sint, 
nequis  ganeo  protervus  de  eius  post  pubertatem  moribus  quasi 
ambiguis  sermocinari  sibi  praesumpserit."1 

SUBSTITUTE  BLOOD   FOR   DECEPTION. 

Quum  in  Arabia  sponsa  quaedam  virginitatis  orba  sponso  a 
parentibus  imponitur,  mater  sponsae  turturillam  clam  iugulat, 
eiusque  sanguine  camisiam  sponsae,  antequam  ilia  amicis  visui 
exhibeatur,  tingit  atque  commaculat.  Ad  mores  hos  in  fabulis 
"  Noctium  Mille  et  Unius"  haud  tarn  infrequenter  referimur.2 
Burton  haec  interpretans  ait :  "  Vetus  ac  venerabilis  consuetude 
linteum  nuptiale  visendi  in  plurimis  Orientis  regionibus  pietate 
quadam  religiosa  adhuc  praeservata  viget ;  in  familiis  enim 
Muhammedanis,  moribus  priscis  addictis,  linteum  hoc  in  gyn- 
aeceo,  ut  cernatur,  expositum  prostat,  ut  .  .  .  filiam  marito  illi- 

1  Niebuhr's  Beschreibung  von  Arabien,  pp.  35-39. 
2  Vide,  exempli  causa,  Burtonii  Alf  Laila  va  Lai  la,  II,  50;  III,  289. 


APPENDIX.  249 

batam  se  obtulisse  ostendat  testeturque.  .  .  .  Opinio  popularis 
praevalet  nullam  sanguinem  posse  peritos,  h.  e.  matronas  iura- 
trices,  fallere,  praeterquam  sanguis  turturillae,  utpote  qui 
sanguini  hymenaeo  existimetur  esse  simillimus,  nisi  indages 
adminiculo  microscopii  instituatur.  Fides  haec  apud  Europae 
Australis  populos  bene  universa  est,  turn  etiam  de  re  eadem  in 
Anglia  quoque  me  audisse  memini."  l  Burton  porro  subiungit: 
"  Arabes  atque  Indi  in  diebus  nostris  linteum  nuptiale  indagare, 
quemadmodum  apud  Iudaeos  Persasque  usuvenit,  raro  sinunt. 
Sponsa  mucinium  candidum  secum  in  lectum  sumit,  ut  habeat 
quo  cruorem  manantem  sopiat,  postridie  autem  mane  maculae  in 
gynaeceo  propalantur.  In  Darfuria  vero,  regione  Africae,  hoc 
ipsum  a  sponso  perficitur."2 

Apud  Morduinos,  gentem  Fennicam,  accolas  Rha,  mores 
prisci  vigent.3  Consuetudinem  testimonium  virginitatis  exhi- 
bendi,  vel  in  eius  locum  sanguinem  pulli  gallinacei  substituendi, 
velut  in  partibus  Asiae  atque  Africae,  in  his  Europae  Septem- 
trione-Orientalis  plagis  ad  usque  modo  reperiri  licet.  "In  comi- 
tatu  Crasnaslobodsceno,  Provinciae  Pensae,  mulier  neo-nupta  e 
thalamo  arcessitur,  atque  in  camisia  sua  cruore  commaculata 
(si  opus  sit,  etiam  sanguine  pulli  gallinacei)  a  duabus  amicis 
labrum  vacuum  secum  baiulantibus,  vetulaque  panem  secum 
portante,  ad  fluvium  proximum  deducitur.  In  iis  autem  regioni- 
bus,  ubi  Morduini  Russorum  moribus  sunt  magis  imbuti,  hospites 
nuptiales,  quamprimum  virginitas  sit  comprobata,  quidquid 
ipsis  sub  manus  cadat,  ut  suum  gaudium  reverentiamque  rite 
significent,  confringunt  atque  comminuunt."4 

1  Vide,  exempli  causa,  Burtonii  Alf  Laila  va  Laila,  II,  50,  nota. 
2  Ibid.,  Ill,  289,  nota.  3  Vide  p.  32-dam  supra. 

4  P.  von  Stenin :  "  Die  Ehebei  den  Mordwinen,"  in  Globus,  Vol.  LXV, 
No.  11  (1894),  p.  183. 


2  SO  APPENDIX. 

PUBLIC   PERFORMANCE   OF  THE   RITE. 

Navarchus  Cook,  in  Chronico  sui  primi  circum  orbem  itineris 
de  Foedere  Liminari,  ceil  modo  cultus  publici  in  Otaheita,  seu 
Tahiti,  sequentia  refert : 

"  Die  14-mo  (Maii),  qui  erat  Solis,  in  castris  cultum  divinum 
celebrandum  iussi ;  maximopere  desiderabamus  ut  principes 
Indorum  huic  interessent,  at  hi,  quum  hora  appropinquasset, 
domum  discesserunt.  Verumtamen  Dfius  Banks,  traiecto 
flumine,  Tuburai  Tamaide  suamque  uxorem  Tomio,  secum 
reduxit,  fore  enim  sperabat,  ut  cultus  noster  ab  iis  perconta- 
tiones  quasdam  eliceret,  non  secus  ac  nobis  instrui  liceret : 
quum  eos  discumbere  iussisset,  ipse  in  medio  eorum  discubuit, 
qui  durantibus  ceremoniis  suum  agendi  modum  summa  anim- 
adversione  sunt  prosecuti  actionesque  imitati ;  stantes,  con- 
sidentes,  genua  flectentes,  prout  eum  facere  videbant :  haud 
erant  nimirum  ignari  apud  nos  quiddam  solemnis  agi  atque 
serii,  ut  hoc  vel  inde  concludi  potuerit,  quod  hi  suos  populares 
praeter  castra  tripudiantes  clamando  ad  silentiam  servandum 
cohortati  fuissent ;  attamen  cultu  absoluto,  neuter  percontabatur 
quid  rei  gestum  esset,  nee  ullis  volebant  tentaminibus  res 
gestas  explicandi  aures  praebere. 

"  Talia  erant  nostra  officia  matutina  ;  Indi  vero  nostri  ves- 
peras  toto  coelo  diversas  iudicarunt  esse  offerendas.  Vir  quidam 
iuvenis,  procerus,  fere  sex  pedes,  ritus  Veneris  cum  pupula  vix 
undenorum  vel  duodenorum  annorum,  pluribus  nostrum  mag- 
noque  popularium  numero  coram  intuentibus,  perfecit,  quin 
actum  dedecere,  vel  bonis  adversari  moribus  senserit ;  verum, 
ut  concludere  licuit,  moribus  illius  regionis  omnino  congruenter. 
Erant  autem  in  turba  inspectante  non  paucae  mulieres  ordinum 
superiorum,  in  specie  autem  Oberea  (muKer  principalis  illius 
Insulae,  quae  primum  regina  esse  reputabatur),  quae  ad  cere- 


APPENDIX.  25 1 

monias  ministrasse  hire  dici  potest ;  nam  mulieres  hae  puellam 
monendo  instituebant  quemadmodum  vidl.  sibi  sua  parte 
muneris  obeundum  esset."  1 

Quum  apud  Samoanos  nuptiae  cuiusdam  optimatum  in  diebus 
primaevis  celebrabantur,  partes  agnatique  sponsae  in  maroe, 
seu  foro  publico  congregabantur,  ubi  sponsus,  cunctis  intuenti- 
bus,  primam  virginitatis  sponsae  obryssam  instituit.  Si  docu- 
mentum  virginitatis  ab  eo  exhiberi  potuerat,  coetus  omnis 
exsurrexit  complosisque  manibus  sponsae  gratulabundus  ac- 
clamavit;  at,  si  quo  casu  proba  haec  defuerit,  earn  probris 
scommatibusque  lacessiverant.  Apud  plebem  humilem  ritus 
hie  in  aedibus  privatis,  nee  tantapompa  celebrabatur. 2 

BIBLE  TESTIMONY. 

A  distinct  reference  to  the  proofs  of  chastity,  in  the  blood- 
stamped  cloth,  is  found  in  the  Bible  record  of  the  ancient  law  of 
Israel.  "  If  any  man  take  a  wife,  and  go  in  unto  her,  and  hate 
her,  and  lay  shameful  things  to  her  charge,  and  bring  up  an 
evil  name  upon  her,  and  say,  I  took  this  woman,  and  when  I 
came  nigh  to  her,  I  found  not  in  her  the  tokens  of  virginity  : 
then  shall  the  father  of  the  damsel,  and  her  mother,  take  and 
bring  forth  the  tokens  of  the  damsel's  virginity  unto  the  elders 
of  the  city  in  the  gate  :  and  the  damsel's  father  shall  say  unto 
the  elders,  I  gave  my  daughter  unto  this  man  to  wife,  and  he 
hateth  her;  and,  lo,  he  hath  laid  shameful  things  to  her 
charge,  saying,  I  found  not  in  thy  daughter  the  tokens  of  vir- 
ginity ;  and  yet  these  are  the  tokens  of  my  daughter's  virginity. 
And  they  shall  spread  the  garment  [or  cloth,  Hebrew  $imlah~\ 
before  the  elders  of  the  city. 

1  Voyages  of  Capt.  James  Cook,  I,  56. 
2  Turner's  Samoa  a  Hundred  Years  Ago,  pp.  93-95. 


252  APPENDIX. 

"  And  the  elders  of  that  city  shall  take  the  man  and  chastise 
him ;  and  they  shall  amerce  him  in  an  hundred  shekels  of 
silver,  and  give  them  unto  the  father  of  the  damsel,  because  he 
hath  brought  up  an  evil  name  upon  a  virgin  of  Israel:  and  she 
shall  be  his  wife  ;  he  may  not  put  her  away  all  his  days.  But 
if  this  thing  be  true,  that  the  tokens  of  virginity  were  not  found 
in  the  damsel :  then  they  shall  bring  out  the  damsel  to  the  doors 
of  her  father's  house,  and  the  men  of  the  city  shall  stone  her 
with  stones  that  she  die :  because  she  hath  wrought  folly  in 
Israel,  to  play  the  harlot  in  her  father's  house."  l 


WOMAN  AS  A  DOOR. 

In  different  languages  and  among  various  peoples  there  is, 
as  already  suggested,2  an  apparent  connection  between  the 
terms,  and  the  corresponding  ideas,  of  "woman"  and  "door," 
that  would  seem  to  be  a  confirmation  of  the  fact  that  the  earliest 
altar  was  at  the  threshold  of  the  woman,  and  of  the  door. 

Thus,  in  the  Song  of  Songs  8  :  8,  9: — 

"  We  have  a  little  sister, 
And  she  hath  no  breasts  : 
What  shall  we  do  for  our  sister 
In  the  day  when  she  shall  be  spoken  for? 
If  she  be  a  wall, 

We  will  build  upon  her  a  turret  of  silver: 
And  if  she  be  a  door, 
We  will  inclose  her  with  boards  of  cedar." 

Job,  cursing  the  day  of  his  birth,  says  (Job  3  :  1-10): 

"  Let  the  day  perish  wherein  I  was  born, 
And  the  night  which  said,  There  is  a  man  child  conceived.  .  .  . 
Neither  let  it  behold  the  eyelids  of  the  morning: 
Because  it  shut  not  up  the  doors  of  my  mother's  womb, 
Nor  hid  trouble  from  mine  eyes." 

1  Deut.  22  :  13-21.  2  See,  for  example,  197  f.,  supra. 


APPENDIX.  253 

Referring  to  this  passage,  the  Babylonian  Talmud  (Treatise 
Bechoroth,  45  a)  quotes  Rabbi  Eliezer  as  saying,  "Just  as  a 
house  has  doors,  so  also  a  woman  has  doors."  Others  say : 
"Just  as  a  house  has  keys  \jniphteakh,  literally  'opener'],  so 
the  woman  has  a  key  ;  for  it  is  said  (Gen.  30  :  22)  '  God  hear- 
kened to  her,  and  opened  [a  play  upon  patakh,  *  to  open,'  and 
miphteakh,  'key']  her  womb.' "  The  famous  Rabbi  Akibah 
says:  "Just  as  a  house  has  hinges,  so  there  are  hinges  to  a 
wife;  for  it  is  written  (1  Sam.  4  :  19),  'She  kneeled  and  gave 
birth,  for  her  hinges  had  turned '  [translating  sirim  (or  tseereeni) 
as  '  hinges  '  instead  of  '  pains ' ;  the  word  has  the  former  mean- 
ing in  Proverbs  26  :  14,  'As  the  door  turneth  upon  its  hinges, 
so  doth  the  sluggard  upon  his  bed.']  " 

The  Talmudic  treatise  Midda  (Mishna  §  2,  5)  explains  the 
different  parts  of  the  womb  under  the  metaphors  kheder, 
"  interior  chamber ; "  p'rosdor,  "  vestibule ;  "  'a/zyj/d,  •  "  upper 
story."  1  Professor  Dr.  Morris  Jastrow,  Jr.,  in  citing  these  meta- 
phors, suggests  that  they  coincide  with  the  Arabic  and  Egyp- 
tian custom  of  using  a  key  in  the  marriage  rite,  as  described  at 
page  244. 

Critics  have  long  puzzled  over  the  seemingly  contradictory 
uses  of  the  Hebrew  word  poth  in  two  places  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment; and  the  connection  of  "woman"  and  "door"  with  the 
parts  thereof,  above  suggested,  may  aid  in  resolving  the  diffi- 
culty. At  1  Kings  7  :  50,  in  a  list  of  the  holy  vessels  of  the 
house  of  the  Lord,  there  are  mentioned  "the  hinges  (Heb., 
pothoth),  both  for  the  doors  of  the  inner  house,  the  most  holy 
place,  and  for  the  doors  of  the  house,  to  wit,  of  the  temple,  of 
gold."  At  Isaiah  3  :  17  the  same  word po//i  is  translated  "their 
secret  parts,"  in  a  reference  to  the  humiliation  of  "the  daughters 

1  See  also  citations  from  Buxtorf  at  p.  200,  supra. 


254  APPENDIX. 

of  Zion."  It  has  been  suggested  by  some  that  there  was  a  cor- 
ruption of  the  text  in  Isaiah.  (See  Delitzsch  and  Dillmann,  in 
their  commentaries  at  this  place.)  Yet  in  view  of  the  rab- 
binical uses  of  language,  the  text  would  seem  to  be  trustworthy. 
Poth  is  an  "  opening,"  of  a  woman  or  of  a  door.  Additional 
light  is  thrown  on  the  use  of  the  term  poth  as  "  opening  "  and 
as  "hinge,"  or  "  socket,"  when  we  bear  in  mind  that  the  hinge 
of  an  Oriental  door  was  a  hole,  or  cavity,  or  door  socket,  on 
which  the  door  turned,  in  order  to  give  an  opening  or  entrance. 
Often  these  door  sockets  were  made  of  metal, — bronze,  silver, 
or  gold.1  Sometimes  the  entire  thresholds,  in  which  were  these 
sockets  or  "  basons,"  were  of  metal.  If,  however,  the  thresh- 
old was  of  stone  or  wood,  the  socket,  or  a  plate  with  a  depres- 
sion in  it,  was  of  metal.  The  poth,  therefore,  when  referring  to 
a  door,  was  the  metal  plate  or  socket  in  the  threshold  on  which 
the  door  turned  as  on  a  hinge. 

It  is,  indeed,  possible  that  the  opening  or  cavity  in  the  ancient 
stone  or  metal  threshold  was  sometimes  the  bason,  or  vessel, 
into  which  the  covenanting  blood  was  poured.2  In  that  case, 
the  correspondence  of  the  opening  of  the  woman,  and  the 
socket  of  the  threshold,  would  be  more  obvious.  Important 
inscriptions  are  usually  found  at  or  around  these  so-called  "  door 
sockets,"  in  Babylonian  relics;  and  there  is  still  doubt  in  many 
minds  whether  these  cavities  were  always  hinge  sockets. 

The  word  "hinges,"  or  "hangers,"  is  at  the  best  an  in- 
accurate and  misleading  term,  as  applied  to  the  pivots  or 
knuckles  on  which  an  ancient  door  swung  in  its  socket.  An- 
cient doors  were  not  hung  on  hinges,  but  they  swung  on  pivots. 
Instead  of  a  hinge,  there  was  a  knuckle  or  pintle,  with  a  corres- 
ponding socket,  or  cavity,  or  opening,  in  the  threshold  or  door- 

1  See  pp.  127,  132  f.,  207  f.,  supra.  2  See  p.  207  f.,  supra. 


APPENDIX. 


255 


sill.  Both  Gesenius  *  and  Stade 2  give  "  socket  "  as  one  of  the 
meanings  of  poth.  The  plural,  pothoth,  of  course,  refers  to 
the  sockets  of  two  leaves  of  a  double  door  on  one  threshold. 

When  Samson  was  shut  in  at  Gaza  by  the  Philistines,  the 
double  leaves  of  the  city  gate  were  held  together  by  a  bar,  with- 
out the  lifting  of  which  the  doors  could  not  be  opened.  "And 
Samson  lay  till  midnight,  and  arose  at  midnight,  and  laid  hold 
of  the  doors  of  the  gate  of  the  city,  and  the  two  posts  [the  up- 
right stiles,  at  the  bottom  of  which  were  the  knuckles  that  turned 
in  the  threshold  sockets],  and  plucked  them  up,  bar  [cross-bar 
or  latch]  and  all,  and  put  them  upon  his  shoulders,  and  carried 
them  up  to  the  top  of  the  mountain  that  is  before  Hebron."  3 

I  have  in  my  possession  a  bronze  door-socket  and  knuckle  of 
an  ancient  gate  or  door,  unearthed  from  a  mound  in  the  vicinity 
of  Ghuzzeh,  the  site  of  ancient  Gaza,  that  meets  this  description. 


In  primitive  symbolism,  as  shown  in  Babylonia,  Egypt,  and 
India,  the  circle  or  ring,  like  this  socket,  represents  woman. 

It  would  be  interesting,  in  this  connection,  to  follow  out  the 
meanings  and  uses  of  the  Greek  words  irvdpyv  {puthmeri),  root 
<f>v  (phu)  ;    and  fatf  {phlie),  doorpost,  root  $ki  (p/i/i)  ;  compare 

1  Handworterbiich,  Miilhan  and  Volck,  nth  ed.(  s.  v. 
2  Woerterbuch  u.  Alt.  Test.,  s.  v.  3  Judges  16  :  3. 


256  APPENDIX. 

<p?Jo)  {phleo),  (pilot  {philos).  It  is  evident  that  the  twofold  idea 
of  the  threshold  of  life,  and  the  threshold,  or  sockets,  of  the 
door,  is  in  the  uses  of  these  terms  and  their  derivatives  in 
earlier  and  later  Greek.  But  only  this  suggestion  can  be  made 
here. 

The  correspondence  of  "  woman  "  and  "  door,"  or  of  "  wife  " 
and  "threshold,"  in  the  Arabic,  has  already  been  pointed  out.1 
A  similar  suggestion  is  in  Sanskrit  terms.2 

In  Germany,  even  at  the  present  time,  a  common  term  for 
"woman  "  is  "  woman  chamber"  {frauenzimmer),  as  in  Arabic 
hareema  is  a  woman,  while  hareem  is  the  women's  apartment. 
A  remark  attributed  to  a  prominent  American  clergyman,  as 
showing  the  naturalness  of  the  figure  of  woman  as  a  door,  is : 
"  He  who  marries  a  wife  opens  a  door,  through  which  unborn 
generations  shall  troop." 

A  Chinese  character  is  the  representation  of  "threshold,"  of 
"  door,"  and  also  of  "  woman." 3  It  is  suggested  by  the  lexicog- 
rapher that  the  origin  of  this  character  was  a  small  door  in  a 
large  gate,  as  the  inner  door  to  the  hareem  or  women's  apart- 
ments ;  but  it  seems  probable,  from  the  correspondence  of  this 
twofold  idea  with  the  primitive  thought  of  woman  as  the  door 
of  humanity,  that  the  Chinese  character  must  have  had  an 
origin  prior  to  that  degree  of  civilization  which  recognized  such 
a  classification  in  household  apartments.  The  combination 
of  "door"  and  "border"  is  another  Chinese  character4  that 
stands  for  "threshold"  or  "door-sill."5    Confucius  said  that  this 

1  See  p.  200,  supra.  2  See  p.  197  f.  supra. 

3  'kw'  un  ypi^ji  *  yu  n^i 

5  See  S.  Wells  Williams's  Syllabic  Dictionary  of  the  Chinese  Language, 
pp.  496,  1 141. 


APPENDIX.  257 

threshold  "should  not  be  trodden  on  when  walking  through" 
the  door. 

SYMBOLISM  OF  THE  TWO  SEXES. 

As  showing  the  antiquity,  as  well  as  the  universality,  of  the  sym- 
bolism of  the  two  sexes  as  the  source  of  life,  in  connection  with 
reverent  worship,  an  illustration  of  the  ancient  Egyptian  Book 
of  the  Dead  is  noteworthy.  In  a  vignette  on  Chapter  CXXV,  in 
the  Papyrus  Ani,  a  worshiper,  is  represented  before  the  throne 
of  Osiris,  in  the  Hall  of  Righteousness,  with  uplifted  hands,  in 
token  of  covenant  worship,  while  his  offering  is  a  lotus  flower, 
the  symbol  of  fecundity,  laid  on  the  conventional  phallus,  the 
symbol  of  virility.1  This  vignette  is  reproduced  on  the  cover 
of  this  volume.  The  lotus  flower  has  the  same  signification  in 
Assyria  and  India  as  in  Egypt. 2 

The  pine  cone,  which,  as  the  symbol  of  virility  and  vitalizing 
force,  was  prominent  in  the  ancient  Assyrian  sculptures,  as  also 
in  the  Phenician  and  Grecian  cults,3  was  likewise  to  be  found 
in  ancient  Rome.  An  enormous  bronze  pine  cone,  eleven  feet 
high,  probably  older  than  the  Christian  era,  still  ornaments  a 
fountain  in  the  gardens  of  the  Vatican.  Lanciani  says :  "  Pope 
Symmachus,  who  did  so  much  toward  the  embellishment  of 
sacred  edifices  in  Rome  (between  498  and  514),  removed  the 
pine  cone  from  its  ancient  place,  most  probably  from  Agrippa's 
artificial  lake  in  the  Campus  Martius,  and  used  it  for  adorning 
the  magnificent  fountain  which  he  had  built  in  the  center  of 

1  Le  Page  Renouf ' s  Book  of  the  Dead  in  Proceedings  of  the  Society  of 
Biblical  Archaeology,  for  November,  1895.     Plate  xxxi. 

2  See  pp.  199,  234,  supra. 

3  See  Barker's  Lares  and  Penates ;  Or,  Cilicia  and  its  Governors,  p. 
217  f. ;  also  see  p.  231  f.,  supra. 

17 


258  APPENDIX. 

the  so-called  '  Paradise'  of  S.  Peter's,  viz.,  in  the  center  of  the 
square  portico  in  front  of  the  basilica."  1 

Among  the  Pompeian  relics  in  the  Royal  Museum  at  Naples 
is  a  representation  of  a  woman  making  an  offering  to  Priapus 
in  order  to  be  cured  of  sterility.  She  brings  a  pine  cone,  while 
her  husband  is  near  her.2 

Evidences  of  the  fact  that  boundary  posts,  landmarks,  and 
milestones  were  intended  to  represent  the  phallus  at  the 
threshold  in  the  Roman  empire,  as  in  the  far  East,  abound 
among  the  same  relics  in  the  Neapolitan  Museum.3 

SYMBOLISM  OF  TREE  AND  SERPENT. 

A  striking  confirmation  of  the  view  taken  in  this  work  of  the 
symbolism  of  the  serpent,  as  the  nexus  between  the  two  sexes, 
the  female  being  represented  by  the  fig-tree,  and  the  male  by 
the  upright  stone,  or  pole,4  is  found  in  an  ancient  religious  cus- 
tom in  Mysore,  India.  Captain  J.  S.  F.  Mackenzie  contributed 
an  interesting  paper  on  this  subject  to  the  "  Indian  Antiquary."5 
"  Round  about  Bangalore,  more  especially  towards  the  Lai 
Bagh  and  Petta, — as  the  native  town  is  called, — three  or  more 
stones  are  to  be  found  together,  having  representations  of 
serpents  carved  upon  them.  These  stones  are  erected  always 
under  the  sacred  fig-tree  by  some  pious  person,  whose  means 
and  piety  determine  the  care  and  finish  with  which  they  are 
executed.  Judging  from  the  number  of  the  stones,  the  worship 
of  the  serpent  appears  to  be  more  prevalent  in   the  Banga- 

1  Lanciani's  Ancient  Rome,  p.  286  f. 

2  Aine's  Herculaneum  et  Pompei,  Tome  VIII,  Planche  56,  facing  p.  221. 

3  Ibid.,  PI.  24,  25,  27,  30,  39,  41,  44,  48,  54,  55,  56,  59. 

4  See  pp.  230-240,  supra. 

5  Cited  in  Notes  and  Queries,  fifth  series,  Vol.  IV,  p.  463. 


APPENDIX.  259 

lore  district  than  in  other  parts  of  the  province.  No  priest  is 
ever  in  charge  of  them.  There  is  no  objection  to  men  doing 
so,  but  from  custom,  or  for  some  reason, — perhaps  because  the 
serpent  is  supposed  to  confer  fertility  on  barren  women,— the 
worshiping  of  the  stones,  which  takes  place  during  the  Gauri 
feast,  is  confined  to  women  of  all  Hindu  classes  and  creeds. 
The  stones,  when  properly  erected,  ought  to  be  on  a  built-up 
stone  platform  facing  the  rising  sun,  and  under  the  shade  of 
two  fieepid  {Ficus  religiosa)  trees, — a  male  and  female  growing 
together,  and  wedded  by  ceremonies,  in  every  respect  the  same 
as  in  the  case  of  human  beings, — close  by,  and  growing  in  the 
same  platform  a  nimb  {margosa)  and  bipatra  (a  kind  of  wood- 
apple),  which  are  supposed  to  be  living  witnesses  of  the  mar- 
riage. The  expense  of  performing  the  marriage  ceremony  is 
too  heavy  for  ordinary  persons,  and  so  we  generally  find  only 
one  fieefiid  and  3.ni?nb  on  the  platform.  By  the  common  people 
these  two  are  supposed  to  represent  man  and  wife." 

COVENANT  OF  THRESHOLD-CROSSING. 

An  American  gentleman  traveling  among  the  Scandinavian 
immigrants  in  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota,  was  surprised  to  see 
their  house  doors  quite  generally  standing  open,  as  if  they  had 
no  need  of  locks  and  bolts.  He  argued  from  this  that  they  were 
an  exceptionally  honest  people,  and  that  they  had  no  fear  of 
thieves  and  robbers.  A  Scandinavian  clergyman,  being  asked 
about  this,  said  that  they  had  thieves  in  that  region,  but  that 
thieves  would  not  cross  a  threshold,  or  enter  a  door,  with  evil 
intent,  being  held  back  by  a  superstitious  fear  of  the  conse- 
quences of  such  a  violation  of  the  covenant  obligation  incurred 
in  passing  over  the  threshold. 

I  asked  a  native  Syrian  woman,  "  If  a  thief  wanted  to  get  into 


260  APPENDIX. 

your  house  to  steal  from  you,  would  he  come  in  at  the  door,  if 
he  saw  that  open?"  "Oh,  no!"  she  answered,  "he  would 
come  in  at  the  window,  or  would  dig  in  from  behind."  "  Why 
wouldn't  he  come  in  at  the  door?"  I  asked.  "Because  his 
reverence  would  keep  him  from  that,"  she  said,  in  evident  refer- 
ence to  the  superstitious  dread  of  crossing  a  threshold  with  evil 
intent, — a  dread  growing  out  of  an  inborn  survival  of  reverence 
for  the  primitive  altar,  with  the  sacredness  of  a  covenant  entered 
into  by  its  crossing. 

The  very  term  commonly  employed  in  the  New  Testament 
for  thieving  indicates  the  "  digging  through  "  a  building,  instead 
of  entering  by  the  door.  "  Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures 
upon  the  earth,  where  moth  and  rust  doth  consume,  and  where 
thieves  break  through  [literally,  dig  through  ;  Greek,  diorussd] 
and  steal."  1  "  If  the  master  of  the  house  had  known  in  what 
hour  the  thief  was  coming,  he  would  have  watched,  and  not 
have  left  his  house  to  be  digged  through."  2 

Canon  Tristram  tells  of  an  Adwan  shaykh  who  was  proud 
of  being  a  "robber,"  a  "highwayman,"  but  who  resented  the 
idea  that  he  was  a  "  thief,"— a  "  sneak  thief."  "  I  am  not  a 
thief,"  he  said  ;  "  I  do  not  dig  into  the  houses  of  fellaheen  in 
the  night.  I  would  scorn  it.  I  only  take  by  force  in  the  day 
time.  And,  if  God  gives  me  strength,  shall  I  not  use  it?" 
Canon  Tristram  adds:  "A  'thief,'  as  distinguished  from  a 
'robber,'  would  never  think  of  attempting  to  force  the  door, 
but  would  noiselessly  dig  through  a  wall  in  the  rear,— a  work 
of  no  great  labor,  as  the  walls  are  generally  of  earth,  or  sun- 
dried  bricks,  or,  at  best,  of  stone  imbedded  in  turf  instead  of 

in  mortar."  3 

1  Matt.  6  :  19 ;  also  Matt.  6  :  20. 

2  Luke  12  :  39  ;  also  Matt.  24  :  43 ;  Exod.  22  :  2  ;  Ezek.  12  :  2-7. 

8  See  The  Sunday  School  Times  for  March  7,  1896. 


APPENDIX.  26l 

A  former  missionary  in  Palestine  l  says  :  "  Digging  through 
the  wall  is  the  common  method  pursued  by  housebreakers  in 
Palestine,  and,  save  in  the  cities,  the  operation  is  not  one  of 
great  difficulty.  Windows,  in  our  sense,  do  not  exist  in  the 
houses  of  the  villagers  ;  .  .  .  but  the  walls,  built  of  roughly 
broken  stones  and  mud,  are  easily,  and  by  a  skilled  hand 
almost  noiselessly,  penetrated.  One  night,  about  midnight,  I 
was  driven  from  my  resting-place  under  a  stunted  olive-tree 
in  the  plain  of  Sharon  by  a  terrific  thunderstorm,  and  took 
refuge  in  the  miserable  fellahy  village  of  Kalansaweh.  A 
good  woman  unbarred  her  door  and  admitted  me  to  a  single 
apartment,  in  which,  on  the  ground  level,  were  several  sheep 
and  cattle,  with  an  ass,  and  on  the  higher  level  a  pretty  large 
family  asleep,  all  dimly  discerned  by  the  light  of  a  little  oil  lamp 
stuck  in  a  crevice  of  the  wall.  The  atmosphere  was  awful.  I 
asked  why  they  did  not  have  a  window  or  opening  in  the  wall. 
The  woman  held  up  her  hands  in  amazement.  '  What ! '  she 
exclaimed,  'and  assist  the  robbers  ["thieves"]?'  .  .  .  The 
robbers  ['  thieves '],  she  explained,  were  the  Arabs  in  the  plain. 
Greater  rascals  do  not  exist.  They  were  great  experts,  she 
explained,  in  '  digging  through  '  the  houses  ;  to  put  a  window 
in  the  wall  would  only  tempt  them,  and  facilitate  their  work." 

Now,  as  of  old,  among  the  more  primitive  pastoral  people  of 
Palestine,  "  He  that  entereth  not  by  the  door  into  the  fold  of 
the  sheep,  but  climbeth  up  some  other  way,  the  same  is  a  thief 
and  a  robber.  .  .  .  The  thief  cometh  not,  but  that  he  may  steal, 
and  kill,  and  destroy."  2 

I  remember  now,  what  I  did  not  realize  the  meaning  of  at  the 


1  The  Rev.  William  Ewing,  in  The  Sunday  School  Times  for  March  7, 
1896. 

2  John  10  :  1,  10. 


262  APPENDIX. 

time,  that  while  I  was  journeying  in  Arabia  we  did  not  set  a 
watch  before  the  entrance  of  our  tents,  when  we  were  near  a 
village  ;  but  the  guards  were  at  the  rear  of  the  tents,  to  watch 
against  thieves,  who  would  crawl  underneath  the  canvas  to 
steal  what  they  might. 

It  seems  to  have  been  a  custom  in  medieval  times,  and 
probably  earlier,  for  the  besiegers  in  war  time  to  endeavor  to 
enter  a  city  which  they  would  sack  through  a  breach  in  the 
walls,  or  by  scaling  the  walls,  rather  than  by  entering  the  gates. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  a  conqueror  would  protect  the  inhabitants 
of  a  captured  city,  he  would  pass  in  through  the  opened  gates. 
To  deliver  up  the  keys  of  the  city  gates  to  a  hostile  commander 
was  equivalent  to  capitulating  or  making  formal  terms  of  sur- 
render. In  the  military  museum  at  Berlin  are  preserved  the 
keys  of  cities  captured  by  the  emperors  of  Germany  at  various 
times  along  the  centuries. 

There  is  a  trace  of  this  custom  of  besiegers,  even  in  Old 
Testament  times,  in  the  injunctions  to  Israel  with  reference  to 
its  warfares  :  "  When  thou  drawest  nigh  unto  a  city  to  fight 
against  it,  then  proclaim  peace  unto  it  [proffer  quarter].  And  it 
shall  be,  if  it  make  thee  answer  of  peace,  and  open  [the  gates] 
unto  thee,  then  it  shall  be,  that  all  the  people  that  is  found 
therein  shall  become  tributary  unto  thee,  and  shall  serve  thee. 
And  if  it  will  make  no  peace  with  thee,  but  will  make  war 
against  thee,  then  thou  shalt  besiege  it :  and  when  the  Lord 
thy  God  delivereth  it  into  thine  hand,  thou  shalt  smite  every 
male  thereof  with  the  edge  of  the  sword."  " 

It  has  been  suggested  on  a  former  page,2  but  perhaps  not  suffi- 
ciently explained,  that  this  idea  of  subjecting  one's  self  to  the 
covenant  obligations  of  citizenship  by  passing  through  the  city 

i  Deut.  20  :  10-13.  2  See  pp.  5-7,  supra. 


APPENDIX.  263 

gates,  over  the  threshold,  had  to  do  with  the  Grecian  custom  of 
welcoming  back  to  his  own  city  the  victor  in  the  Olympian 
games  through  a  breach  in  the  walls,  instead  of  through  the 
gate.  The  meaning  of  this  Greek  custom  (continued  in  Rome) 
was  not  clear  in  the  days  of  Plutarch,  and  he,  in  seeking  to 
account  for  it,  suggests  that  it  may  have  been  intended  to  show 
that  a  city  having  such  men  among  its  citizens  needed  no  walls 
of  defense.1  But,  as  they  rebuilt  their  walls  after  the  entrance 
of  the  victor,  this  explanation  is  not  satisfactory.  The  world- 
wide recognition  of  the  covenant  obligations  of  a  passage 
through  a  gate  over  the  threshold  is  a  more  satisfactory  ex- 
planation. If  the  victor,  on  returning  in  triumph  from  the 
games,  were  to  enter  his  city  through  the  gates,  like  any  other 
citizen,  he  would  be  subject  to  the  laws  of  the  city  as  a  citizen 
or  a  guest ;  but  if  the  city  would  recognize  him  as  a  conqueror, 
at  home  as  well  as  at  Olympia,  they  would  let  him  come  in 
through  a  breach  in  the  walls.  In  this  act  the  citizens  nominally 
submitted  themselves  to  him  ;  and  a  city  thus  entered,  and,  as 
it  were,  captured,  often  felt  that  it  received  more  honor  from 
its  victor  than  it  could  confer  upon  him.2 

DOORKEEPER,  AND  CARRIER. 

A  "porter"  and  a  "porter"  are  two  very  different  persons, 
as  the  terms  are  employed  in  both  Europe  and  America.  We 
speak  of  a  porter  as  a  menial  who  carries  burdens,  such  as 
parcels  or  baggage,  a  mere  carrier  for  hire.  Again,  we  speak  of 
a  porter  as  the  attendant  at,  or  the  custodian  of,  the  entrance 

1  Plutarch,  Symp.,  Bk.  ii,  Quest.  5,  g  2. 
2  See  Smith's  Diet,  of  Greek  and  Roman  Antiq.,  s.vv.  "  Athletae,''  and 
"Olympic  Games;"    Gardner's  New   Chapters  in  Greek  History,  pp. 

297-302. 


264  APPENDIX. 

gate  of  a  mansion  or  public  building.  In  the  one  case  the 
porter  is  a  very  humble  personage,  in  the  other  case  he  is  a 
person  of  responsibility  and  importance.  How  it  came  about 
that  the  same  term  is  applied  to  both  these  personages  is  worth 
considering,  in  view  of  its  bearing  on  the  importance  of  the 
door  and  the  gate. 

It  is  said  to  have  been  a  custom  of  the  ancient  Etruscans 
and  Romans,  and  perhaps  of  older  peoples,  in  laying  out  the 
foundations  of  a  city,  to  mark  first  the  compass  of  the  whole 
city  with  a  plow.  When  they  came  to  those  places  where  they 
were  to  have  the  gates  of  the  city,  they  took  up  the  plow  and 
carried  it  across  the  gateway,  "transported"  the  plow  at  that 
space.  It  is  said  that  from  this  custom  the  Latin  word  porta 
came  to  apply  to  "a  gate,"  "a  portando  aratrimi"  "from 
carrying  the  plow," — porta,  in  Latin,  meaning  "to  carry." 
Whether  or  not  the  traditional  custom  referred  to  had  a  his- 
torical basis,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  mere  fact  of  the  tradition 
will  account  for  the  twofold  use,  in  languages  derived  from  the 
Latin,  of  the  word  "porter"  as  a  carrier,  and  again  as  a  door- 
keeper, or  a  gate  watcher,  or  a  guardian  of  the  threshold.  Apart 
from  the  question  of  the  origin  of  the  terms,  we  find  that  the 
porter  or  carrier  is  one  who  goes  through  the  gate  as  the  place 
of  entrance  or  exit  in  his  carryings  ;  or,  again,  the  porter  or 
guardian  of  the  gate  is  one  who  v/atches  the  place  of  carryings, 
and  of  outgoing  and  incoming. 

Among  the  stories  told  of  the  founding  of  Rome  by  Romulus, 
it  is  said  that  at  the  threshold  of  this  enterprise  the  people 
kindled  fires  before  their  tents,  and  then  leaped  through  or 
over  the  flames.1  In  connection  with  this  ceremony  sacrifices 
were  offered,  and  offerings  of  the  first-fruits  of  forest  and  field 

1  A  primitive  wedding  ceremony.     See  pp.  39-42,  142  f.(  212,  supra. 


APPENDIX.  265 

were  made  to  the  gods. l  A  heifer  and  a  bull  were  yoked  to 
the  plow,  as  in  symbol  of  marriage,  and  afterwards  were  offered 
in  sacrifice,  thus  supplying  the  symbolic  blood  on  the  thres- 
hold of  the  new  city.2  Plutarch,  it  is  true,  thinks  that,  in  con- 
sequence of  this  custom  of  laying  out  a  city,  the  walls  of  a  city, 
except  the  gates,  were  counted  sacred  ;  but  in  this,  as  in  other 
matters  relating  to  the  threshold,3  it  is  evident  that  Plutarch  was 
not  sure  to  be  correct  as  to  the  meaning  of  archaic  customs. 

There  seems  to  be  force  in  the  suggestion  that  the  two  Latin 
words,  porta  and  porto,  like  the  Greek  poros,  were  derived 
from  the  common  Aryan  root  par  or por,  "to  go,"  "to  bring 
over,"  "to  pass  through."*  However  this  may  be,  we  have 
the  common  English  use  of  the  term  "port"  in  words  meaning 
a  door  or  entrance,  and  again  a  carrying  or  a  place  of  carriage, 
as  "export,"  "import,"  "transport,"  "portico,"  "porthole," 
"portfolio,"  etc. 

An  illustration  of  the  twofold  use  of  the  word  is  found  in  the 
word  "a  portage"  or  "a  carry"  as  the  designation  of  "a  break 
in  a  chain  of  water  communication  over  which  goods,  boats, 
etc.,  have  to  be  carried,  as  from  one  lake  or  river  to  another." 
It  is  not  merely  that  this  is  a  place  where  a  canoe,  or  other 
luggage,  must  be  carried,  but  it  is  the  definite  "carry"  or 
"portage,"  the  bridge,  or  isthmus,  or  door,  or  threshold,5  by 
which  they  enter  another  region.  This  is  the  common  American 
use  of  the  term  in  pioneer  life.6 

1  See,  again,  pp.  16  f.,  46  f.,  supra. 
2  See  Plut arch's  Lives,  "Romulus;"  also  references  to  Strabo,   and 
Dionysius  of  Halicarnassus,  in  Hooke's  Roman  History,  I.  42. 
3  See  references  at  pp.  39,  263,  supra. 
4  See  Skeat's  Etymological  Dictionary  and  the  Century  Dictionary,  s.  v. 

5  See  p.  180  f.,  supra. 
6  See  "portage"  in  The  Century  Dictionary,  with  examples  of  usage. 


266  APPENDIX. 

PASSING  OVER  INTO  A  COVENANT. 

As  these  pages  are  going  to  press,  Dr.  Sailer  calls  my  atten- 
tion to  the  phrase  fiH3D  !!%}??  la'abhor  bibereeth,  to  enter, 
or  pass  over,  into  a  covenant  This  phrase,  as  Dr.  Driver1  points 
out,  is  found  only  in  one  place,  at  Deuteronomy  29  :  12.  "That 
thou  shouldest  enter  [or  pass]  into  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  thy 
God,  and  into  his  oath,  which  the  Lord  thy  God  maketh  with 
thee  this  day." 

It  is  evident  that  here  is  the  idea  of  passing  over  a  line  or 
boundary,  or  threshold  limit,  into  another  region,  or  state  or 
condition.  Until  that  threshold  is  crossed,  the  person  is  out- 
side of  the  covenant  with  its  privileges  and  benefits  ;  but  when 
it  is  crossed,  or  passed,  the  person  is  a  partaker  of  all  that  is 
within. 

This  word  'abhar  corresponds  with,  while  it  differs  from,  the 
word  fiasakh.  The  two  words  have,  indeed,  been  counted  by 
some  lexicographers  as  practically  equivalents.  Thus  Fiirst 2 
gives  " pasakh=t ab/iar."  In  the  covenant  which  Jehovah 
makes  with  Abraham,  for  himself  and  his  posterity  (Gen.  1 5  : 
1-2 1),  when  the  heifer  and  the  she  goat  and  the  ram  had  been 
slaughtered  and  divided,  and  the  pieces  laid  over  against  each 
other  as  two  walls,  or  sides  of  a  door,  with  the  blood  probably 
poured  out  on  the  earth  as  a  threshold  between,  ' '  a  smoking 
furnace  and  a  flaming  torch,"  —  representing  the  divine  pres- 
ence—  "passed,"  or  covenant-crossed,  the  blood  on  the  thresh- 
old "between  these  pieces,"  between  these  fleshly  walls  or 
door-posts  of  the  sacrifice.3 

In  Jeremiah  34  :  18,  the  word  appears  in  its  twofold  signifi- 

1  Driver's  Deuteronomy,  p.  323.  2  Heb.  Chald.  Lex.,  s.  v. 

3  See  p.  187  f.,  supra. 


APPENDIX.  267 

cation,  in  conjunction  with  a  similar  double  use  of  the  word 
karath  (" to  cut  ").  Jehovah  says,  "  I  will  give  the  men  that 
have  transgressed  [« abhar,  crossed  or  passed]  my  covenant,  .  .  . 
which  they  made  [cut]  before  me  when  they  cut  the  calf  in  twain 
and  passed  [over  its  blood]  between  the  parts  thereof. ' '  Again, 
in  Amos  7  :  8,  Jehovah  says  of  his  reprobate  people, ' '  I  will  not 
again  pass  by  \jabhar\  them  [covenant-cross  them]  any  more." 

There  seems  to  be  a  trace  of  this  cross-over,  or  pass-over, 
covenant  idea  in  the  references  to  the  passing  through  the  fire 
in  the  worship  of  false  gods,  as  at  2  Kings  16:3,  where  King 
Ahaz  is  said  to  have  "walked  in  the  way  of  the  kings  of  Israel, 
yea,  and  made  his  son  to  pass  through  \jabhar~\  the  fire,  ac- 
cording to  the  abominations  of  the  heathen."1  It  is  evident 
that  this  passing  through  the  fire  in  honor  of  a  false  god  was 
not  the  being  thrown  into  the  fire  as  a  burnt  offering ;  for  such 
sacrifices  are  referred  to  by  themselves,  as  at  Deuteronomy  12  : 
31,  where  it  is  said  of  the  people  of  Jehovah  that  "even  their 
sons  and  their  daughters  do  they  burn  [saraftfi]  in  the  fire  to 
their  gods."2  In  the  same  chapter  of  2  Kings  (17  :  17,  31)  the 
two  phrases  of  causing  children  to  ' '  pass  through ' '  the  fire, 
and  of  « '  burning ' '  children  in  the  fire,  are  separately  referred 
to,  in  illustration  of  the  fact  that  they  are  not  one  and  the  same 
thing. 

It  has  already  been  shown3  that  jumping  across,  or  being 
lifted  over,  a  fire,  at  the  threshold,  is  an  ancient  mode  of  cove- 
nanting, still  surviving  in  many  marriage  or  other  customs  ; 
and  that  the  blood  of  both  human  and  substitute  sacrifices  has 
often  been  poured  out  at  the  same  primitive  altar. 

1  See,  also,  2  Kings  21 :  6 ;  23  :  10 ;  2  Chron.  33  :  6  ;  Ezek.  16  :  21 ;  20  : 
26,  31  ;  23  :  37. 

2  See,  also,  Jer.  7  :  31 ;  19  :  5.         3  See  pp.  39-42,  142  f.,  212,  supra. 


268  APPENDIX. 

Under  the  figure  of  a  marriage  covenant  Jehovah  speaks,  in 
Ezekiel  16  :  8,  of  entering  into  a  covenant,  when  he  takes  the 
virgin  Israel  as  his  bride  :  "Yea,  I  sware  unto  thee,  and  entered 
into  a  covenant  with  thee,  saith  the  Lord  God,  and  thou  becam- 
est  mine."  Here  the  more  common  word  bo  is  used  for  the 
idea  of  entering  ;  but  its  connection  with  the  covenant  of  mar- 
riage would  seem  to  connect  it,  like  the  other  words,  pasach 
and  >abhar,  with  the  thought  of  crossing  over  the  threshold  or 
barrier  into  a  new  state. 


ENGLAND'S  CORONATION  STONE. 

A  notable  survival  of  the  primitive  reverence  for  the  one 
foundation,  or  the  original  threshold,  as  the  earliest  place  of 
sacrifice  and  covenanting,1  is  shown  in  the  famous  "Coronation 
Stone  "  in  Westminster  Abbey.  This  stone  is  under  the  chair 
in  which  all  the  sovereigns  of  England  from  Edward  I.  to 
Victoria  have  been  crowned.  It  was  brought  by  Edward  I.  to 
England  from  Scone,  the  coronation  seat  of  the  kings  of  Scot- 
land. The  legend  attached  to  it  was  that  it  was  the  stone 
pillar  on  which  Jacob  rested  at  Bethel,— the  House  of  God 
where  Abraham  worshiped,  and  where  Jacob  covenanted  with 
God  for  all  his  generations.2 

"  In  it,  or  upon  it,  the  Kings  of  Scotland  were  placed  by  the 
Earls  of  Fife.  From  it  Scone  became  the  '  sedis  principalis '  of 
Scotland,  and  the  kingdom  of  Scotland  the  kingdom  of  Scone." 
Since  the  days  of  Edward  L,  it  has  never  been  removed  from 
Westminster  Abbey,  except  when  Cromwell  was  installed  as 

1  See  pp.  153-164,  supra. 

2  See  Dean  Stanley's  Historical  Memorials  of  Westminster  Abbey,  first 
edition,  pp.  59-67 ;  also,  Appendices,  pp.  492-502. 


APPENDIX.  269 

Lord  Protector  in  Westminster  Hall,  on  which  occasion  it  was 
brought  out  in  order  that  he  might  be  placed  on  it. 

As  in  ancient  Babylonia,  in  Egypt,  in  Syria,  in  India,  in 
China,  in  Arabia,  in  Greece,  in  Scandinavia,  the  one  primitive 
foundation  was  deemed  the  only  foundation  on  which  to  build 
securely  with  Divine  approval,  so  in  the  very  center  of  the 
highest  modern  civilization  the  reputed  foundation  stone  of  the 
kingdom  of  the  "Father  of  the  Faithful"  is  deemed  the  only 
secure  coronation,  or  installation,  seat  of  King,  Queen,  or  Lord 
Protector.  Is  it  not  reasonable  to  suppose  that  this  feeling  has 
a  basis  in  primitive  religious  convictions  and  customs  ? 

Dean  Stanley,  referring  to  this  Coronation  Stone  as  "  prob- 
ably the  chief  object  of  attraction  to  the  innumerable  visitors  to 
the  Abbey,"  says  of  it:  "It  is  the  one  primeval  monument 
which  binds  together  the  whole  Empire.  The  iron  rings,  the 
battered  surface,  the  crack  which  has  all  but  rent  its  solid  mass 
asunder,  bear  witness  to  its  long  migrations.  It  is  thus  em- 
bedded in  the  heart  of  the  English  monarchy — an  element  of 
poetic,  patriarchal,  heathen  times,  which,  like  Araunah's  rocky 
threshing-floor  in  the  midst  of  the  Temple  of  Solomon,  carries 
back  our  thoughts  to  races  and  customs  now  almost  extinct ;  a 
link  which  unites  the  Throne  of  England  to  the  traditions  of 
Tara  and  Iona,  and  connects  the  charm  of  our  complex  civili- 
zation with  the  forces  of  our  mother  earth, — the  stocks  and 
stones  of  savage  nature."  x 

1  See  Dean  Stanley's  Historical  Memorials  of  Westminster  Abbey,  first 
edition,  pp.  64-66. 


INDEXES. 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


Aakon  and  his  sons  consecrated  at 
doorway,  no. 

Aberdeenshire  :  New  Year's  custom  in, 
20  f.;  sacredness  of  threshold  in,  34. 

Abimelech  and  Abraham  settling  dis- 
puted boundary,  170. 

Abiram,  Jericho's  foundation  laid  in 
blood  of,  47. 

Aborigines  of  America,  worship  of,  148. 

Abraham  :  promise  that  his  seed  should 
possess  gate  of  enemies,  65  ;  lifting 
up  his  hand  to  God,  82  ;  coming 
from  Haran  and  Ur,  160  ;  his  offer- 
ing on  Mt.  Moriah,  161  ;  directed  to 
rebuild  holy  house  at  Meccah,  163  ; 
and  Abimelech  settling  disputed 
boundary,  170  ;  the  Lord's  covenant 
welcome  to,  187  ;  his  visit  to  home  of 
Ishmael  in  Arabia,  200;  covenant 
with,  211. 

Absalom  in  "way  of  the  gate"  to  do 
judgment,  64. 

Abyla  and  Calpe  as  boundary  marks, 
181. 

Abyssinia :  bride  carried  to  her  new 
home  in,  38  ;  prominence  of  door 
in,  107  ;  churches  of,  on  hill  or  in 
grove,  130  f. ;  reverence  for  phallic 
emblems  in,  230. 

Acropolis,  Propylaea  built  by  Pericles 
on,  158. 

Adam  as  builder  of  Holy  House  at  Mec- 
cah, 163. 

"Adam  Khan  and  Durkhani,"  poem  of 
Afghans,  58. 

Adonis  of  Greece,  reference  to,  115. 

Adoption  :  of  guest  in  Egypt  and  Syria, 
3 ;  of  bride  by  stepping  over  blood 
at  threshold,  26  ;  among  Arabs  ac- 
companied by  sacrifice  at  door,  59. 

"Adultery,"  affiliation  with  any  but 
true  God  called,  213. 

^Eneas  at  court  of  Queen  Dido,  130. 

/Eschylus,  reference  to,  134. 

yEsculapius  represented  by  serpent,  236. 

Afghans,  protection  for  all  at  threshold 
among,  58. 

Africa  :  human  sacrifice  in  Central,  8  f. ; 
fowl  sacrificed  for  guest  in  West,  9  ; 
sheep  sacrificed  for  guest  in  Cen- 
tral, 9  ;  bloody  grass  on  threshold 
in  Equatorial,  15;  sacrifices  at 
threshold  among  Somalis  of,  27  ; 
threshold    customs    in    South,    28 ; 


bride  carried  over  threshold  in  West, 
39  ;  bloody  hand  in  North.  78  f.; 
bloody  hand  in,  93  ;  primitive  sa- 
credness of  doorway  in,  132  ;  boun- 
dary lines  in,  1 74  ;  trees  as 
boundaries  in  Equatorial,  174  ; 
exhibit  of  blood  stains  in  western, 
246. 

Agade,  Istar  of,  153. 

Agni,  masculine,  198. 

Ahab,  reference  to  time  of,  47. 

Aine's  Here,  at  Pomp.  :  cited,  258. 

Akibah,  Rabbi :  cited,  253. 

Alaska  :  dead  not  carried  over  thresh- 
old in,  24  ;  human  sacrifices  at  foun- 
dation of  houses  in,  50  f. 

Albanians,  crossing  threshold  right  foot 
foremost,  37  f. 

Alcinoiis,  temple  palace  of,  132, 135. 

Alee,  kissing  threshold  of  tomb  of,  124. 

Alexandri,  poem  by,  regarding  founda- 
tion sacrifice,  52. 

Algiers,  walls  of,  laid  in  blood  of  Chris- 
tain  captive,  48. 

Algonquins,  prominence  of  hand  among, 
84. 

'Aliyya,  symbolic  meaning  of,  253. 

Allat,  sovereign  of  Hades,  life  restored 
at  threshold  of,  113  f. 

Altamash,  emperor  of  India,  building 
mosk,  157. 

Altar :  primitive  family,  3  ;  reverence 
for  threshold,  10-25  :  offering  of  life 
on  threshold,  16  ;  near  door  in  Mex- 
ico, 21  ;  sanctity  of  threshold  as 
primitive,  22 ;  reference  to  souls 
under,  25  ;  saint  or  ecclesiastic  buried 
under,  in  Europe,  25  ;  threshold,  in 
Russia,  31  f.;  offerings  at  threshold, 
in  Holland,  33  ;  before  door  at  mar- 
riage in  Borneo,  34  ;  sacredness  of 
threshold  in  Scotland,  34;  fire  taken 
over  threshold  among  Hindoos,  40  f .  ; 
lamb  buried  under,  in  Swedish  tradi- 
tion, 56  ;  before  Greek  houses,  72  ; 
at  or  before  threshold,  102,  136;  in 
doorway  of  temple  at  Nippur,  11 1  ; 
of  burnt  offering,  blood  poured  out 
at,  119  ;  at  doorway,  in  Jerusalem, 
Phenicia,  Phrygia,  Aphrodisias, 
121  ;  at  threshold  in  Egyptian  tem- 
ple, 126  ;  at  Yeha,  131  ;  lele,  name 
for,  150  f. 

Altar-fire :     connecting     link     between 

!  273 


274 


TOPICAL  IXDEX. 


nuptial  torch  and,  41  ;  crossing,  in 
Prussia,  42  ;  references  to,  39  f.,  99- 
102,  226. 

Amara  Deva,  temple  builder,  156. 

Amara  Sinha,  temple  builder,  156. 

Amenophis  IV.  before  Aten-ra,  81. 

America,  Central  :  bridal  couple  carried 
over  threshold  in,  45  ;  blood  of  sacri- 
ficial offerings  smeared  on  door- 
ways in,  73  ;  earliest  form  of  temple 
in,  144  ;  boys  sacrificed  in,  145  ;  tem- 
ples of,  145,  148  ;  nuptial  customs 
of,  196  ;  sculptures  indicating  cove- 
nant rite  between  first  pair  in,  202  ; 
marriage  ceremonies  in,  246. 

America,  North  :  survival  of  sacrifice 
in,  8  ;  treading  on  threshold  in,  13  ; 
coffin  passed  out  window  of  house 
in,  25  ;  window  opened  and  door 
closed  at  death  in,  25  ;  nailing 
horseshoes  on  side-posts  of  doorway 
in,  73  f. ;  symbol  of  open  hands 
in  museums  of,  79  ;  red  hand  among 
aborigines  of,  83  f.,  93  ;  laying  ot 
corner-stones  in,  147;  survival  of 
primitive  sacredness  of  threshold 
in,  147  ;  aborigines  of,  religious  wor- 
ship of,  148  ;  boundary  lines  in,  174  ; 
symbol  of  covenant  among  primitive 
peoples  in,  201 ;  reverence  for  phal- 
lic emblems  in,  230. 

America,  South :  blood  smeared  on 
doorway  in,  73 ;  earliest  form  of 
temple  in,  144  ;  reverence  for  phal- 
lic emblems  in,  230  ;  serpent  as  re- 
ligious symbol  in,  235. 

America,  United  States  of:  vice-consul 
of,  in  Egypt,  reference  to,  7  f.  ; 
boundary  marks  in,  126,  182  f. 

American  Architect,  reference  to  the,  175. 

American  Indians,  red-hand  symbolism 
among,  85-93. 

Amon,  temple  of,  reference  to,  185. 

Amorite,  daughter  of,  213. 

'Anazeh  Bed 'ween,  sacrifice  at  thresh- 
old among,  26 

Andersson,  Charles  John  :  cited,  28. 

Ani  before  throne  of  Osiris,  257. 

Animals  :  images  of,  on  Mordvin  door- 
posts, 42  f.  ;  substituted  for  human 
beings  in  sacrifice,  46  ;  lower,  as  dis- 
tinguished from  man,  223. 

Animals  sacrificed.     See  Sacrifice. 

Ankh,  or  crux  ansata,  201. 

Anointing  door-posts  among  Latins, 29  f. 

Antariksha  invoked  on  door-sill,  15. 

Antelii  presiding  over  entrance,  97. 

Antiquary,  The.  reference  to,  50. 

Anu,  gate  of,  reference  to,  95. 

Apaches :  prominence  of  red  hand 
among,  87  ;  reference  to,  88 

Aphrodisias,  altar  on  threshold  in 
ancient,  121. 

Apollo  :  temple  of,  at  Delphi,  134  ;  rep- 


resented by  female  oracle,  236  ; 
slayer  of  serpent,  236. 

Apollo  Agyieus,  altar  of,  placed  before 
house  among  Greeks,  72. 

Apollo  Thyrsus,  at  entrance,  97. 

Arabia  :  crossing  threshold  in,  10  ;  blood 
at  door-post  to  secure  protection  in, 
59  f.  ;  kissing  threshold  in,  129;  Eve 
settling  in,  164;  Abraham's  visit  to 
Ishmael  in,  200;  use  of  pigeon 
poult's  blood   in,  248. 

Arabic  term  for  woman,  256. 

Arabs :  of  Central  Africa,  blood  wel- 
come among,  9 ;  sacrifice  at  thresh- 
old among,  26  ;  "  house  of  hair  "  of, 
57  ;  of  Syrian  Desert,  doorway  sac- 
rifice in  joining  another  tribe,  58  f.  ; 
red  hand  on  houses  of,  in  Jerusalem, 
76  ;  ively  common  as  place  of  wor- 
ship for,  in  Egypt,  129 ;  exhibit  of 
evidences  among,  249. 

Arafat  near  Meccah,  163  f. 

Arapahoes,  red  hand  among,  87. 

Arch,  memorial,  meaning  of,  103. 

Archangel,  foundation  sacrifice  in,  54. 

Architecture:  influence  of  Assyria,  Baby- 
lonia, and  Egypt  in  doorway,  60  ;  of 
temples  in  China  and  Japan,  101  ; 
sacredness  of  threshold  recognized 
in,  102. 

Arcot,  Nabob  of,  banners  with  painted 
hands  carried  before,  78. 

Areca-nut  eaten  in  marriage  covenant 
in  Borneo,  34. 

Arickarees,  red  hand  among,  87. 

Ark  of  Hebrews  in  house  of  Dagon,  116. 

Armenian  Christians,  blood  on  thresh- 
old among,  26. 

Armenians,  sacred  inscriptions  above 
doorway  of,  71. 

Arta,  bridge  of,  story  of  burying  women 
alive  to  secure,  52. 

Artemis  Propylaea  at  Eleusis,  134. 

Aryan  origin  of  red  hand,  75. 

Aryan  races  :  reference  to,  197  ;  lan- 
guage and  customs  of,  199. 

Asherah,  command  to  Israelites  con- 
cerning, 233. 

Ashtaroth,  symbol  of,  214. 

Ashurnasirafli,  references  to,  178, 184. 

Asia  :  bloody  hand  in  marriage  in,  93 ; 
traces  of  primitive  sacredness  of 
doorway  found  in,  132 ;  boundary 
lines  in,  174.  See,  also,  China,  In- 
dia, Japan. 

Asia  Minor  :  human  sacrifice  in,  47  f.  ; 
references  to,  93,  132,  174  ;  altar  on 
threshold  in  early  Christian  re- 
mains in,  I2i. 

Askuppu,  word  for  threshold,  no. 

Asshur  and  his  worshipers  represented 
with  uplifted  hands,  80. 

Assioot :  threshold  sacrifice  at,  7  f.  ; 
General  Grant  at  bordtr  line  of,  186. 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


2/5 


Assyria  :  images  buried  under  threshold 
in,  14 ;  crossing  threshold  in  mar- 
riage in  ancient,  39  ;  influence  of, 
shown  in  architecture  of  doorways, 
60;  uplifted  hand  in  representing 
deities  of,  79  ;  inscriptions  at  door- 
way in,  108  f. ;  guardians  of  thresh- 
old in,  in  ;  Zephaniah's  curse  on, 
115  ;  reverence  for  phallic  emblems 
in,  230. 

Assyrian  :  word  nish — lifting  up  hand, 
83  ;  city  gates  named  after  special 
god,  95;  god  Nergal  beneath  thresh- 
old, 95  ;  gods  Ea  and  Merodach  at 
gate  of  house,  95;  monuments  on 
doorway  shrine,  105  ;  king,  sculp- 
tured image  of,  with  arms  uplifted, 
115;  kings  and  boundary  lines,  177; 
kings  offering  sacrifices  at  boun- 
daries of  empire,  184  ;  temples,  fur- 
niture of,  207  ;  sculpture,  testimony 
of,  231,  257. 

Assyro- Babylonians  and  boundary  lines, 
185. 

Athaliah,  priests  assigned  to  service  at 
threshold  in  days  of,  120. 

Athenian  generals  offering  sacrifices  to 
Mercury,  172. 

Atlas  upholding  heaven,  132. 

Attica  and  Peloponnesus,  boundary  be- 
tween, 180. 

Aubrey,  John  :  cited,  74. 

Avaita,  or  under  world,  152. 

Avatea,  part  man  and  part  fish,  152. 

Azila,  reference  to,  62. 

Aztecs,  marriage  ceremonies  among,  246. 

Baal,  symbol  of,  214. 

"  Bab,"  or  Door,  spiritual  head  of  Ba- 
bists,  103. 

Babel,  tower  of,  or  door  of  God,  103. 

Babelon,  Ernest,  reference  to,  60. 

Bab-ilu,  Babi-ilu,  Bab-el,  Door  of  God, 
103. 

Babist  sect  in  Persia,  103  f. 

Babylon  :  Daniel  as  judge  in,  64;  ref- 
erence to,  75 ;  king  of,  recognized 
by  uplifted  hand,  80;  building  of 
walls  of,  109  f.;  gates  dedicated  to 
gods  in,  no;  temples  with  altars 
outside  in,  in  f .  ;  kings  of,  154  ; 
final  overthrow  of,  211 ;  reverence 
for  phallic  emblems  in,  230  ;  ancient, 
in  religious  symbolism,  234. 

Babylonia  :  inscriptions  placed  at  thresh- 
old in,  22  ;  influence  shown  in 
architecture  of  doorways,  60;  red 
hand  on  houses  and  animals  in,  75  ; 
uplifted  hand  in  representing  deities 
of,  79 :  swinging  doors  in  religious 
symbolism  of,  105  ;  sanctity  of 
doorway  in,  108  f.  ;  guardians  of 
threshold  in,  in  ;  crossing  threshold 
in  death  in  literature  and  legends  of, 


112  f.:  sacrednessof  doorway  above 
threshold  in,  126  f.;  temple  building 
in,  153;  boundaries  in,  177;  indica- 
tions of  presence  of  deity  in,  201  ; 
ancient,  religions  of,  and  serpent  as 
symbol,  235. 

Babylonian  :  tablet  of  Nebuchadrez- 
zar on  gate  as  place  of  justice, 
60;  character  for  house,  palace, 
and  temple  identical,  99  f.;  monu- 
ments on  doorway  shrine,  105  ; 
literature,  reference  to,  109  ;  Hades 
surrounded  by  seven  walls  with 
seven  gates,  113  ;  idea  of  future  life, 
128;  king,  reference  to  last,  153: 
sun-god  Shamash,  201;  temples,  fur- 
niture of,  207. 

Babylonian  and  Oriental  Record,  refer- 
ence to,  231. 

Babylonian  Talmud,  reference  to,  253. 

Babylonians,  twofold  symbols  among, 
200. 

Bagdad,  khaleefs  of,  threshold  custom 
of,  10. 

Baker,  Sir  Samuel  W.,  quotation  from,  9. 

Balawat  gates,  gods  and  kings  at,  105. 

Baldensperger,  P.  J.:  cited,  29. 

Bali:  meaning  of  word,  15;  placed  on 
door-sill  among  Hindoos,  15  ;  offer- 
ing demanded  at  all  doors,  15. 

Ballads,  popular,  on  human  sacrifice  in 
foundation  building,  52. 

Baltimore,  Lord,  boundary  lines  re- 
ported to,  182. 

Bancroft,  H.  H. :  cited,  34  f.,  45,  56, 
144,  146,  202,  247  ;  reference  to,  108. 

Bangalore,  serpent  worship  in,  258  f. 

Banks  of  lakes  as  boundaries,  178. 

Banners  inscribed  with  open  hand  in 
Turkey  and  Persia,  78. 

Baptism,  place  of,  in  early  churches,  137. 

Baptismal  custom  with  reference  to 
threshold,  18  f. 

Baptismal  font,  location  of,  in  Protestant 
Episcopal  churches,  147. 

Baptist,  John  the,  mission  of,  218. 

Baring-Gould,  Rev.  S.  :  quotation  from, 
138  f. 

Barker,  W.  B.,  reference  to,  257. 

Barnabas  and  Paul  at  Lystra,  135. 

"Bason"  word  for  saph  in  English 
Bible,  206. 

Bat :  under  threshold  in  Roumania,  20; 
superstitions  among  primitive  peo- 
ples regarding,  20. 

Baveddeen,  famous  threshold  stone  at, 
124. 

Bay  and  laurel  in  doorway  at  marriage 
among  Romans,  73. 

Bayet-el-Walli,  rock  grotto  of,  180. 

Beans  under  threshold,  among  Mag- 
yars, 19  f. 

"Beating  the  bounds:"  in  England, 
174  ;  in  New  England,  176. 


276 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


Beccah.     See  Meccah. 

Becker,  W.  A.  :  cited,  37,  41,  72  f. 

Beer-sheba,  well  at,  in  dispute,  170. 

Beginning  of  religious  rites,  199,  225. 

Beirut.     See  Beyroot. 

Bektashi  derwishes  of  Syria,  threshold 
custom  of,  10. 

Bel,  gate  of,  reference  to,  95. 

Bel-Merodach,  new  king  of  ancient 
Babylon  adopted  by,  80. 

Belford,  marriage  customs  at,  142. 

Beltis,  gate  of,  reference  to,  95. 

Beltis-Allat :  "lady  of  the  great  hand," 
113;  brandishing  serpent  in  either 
hand,  235. 

Benjamin,  S.  G.  W.  :  cited,  71. 

Bent,  J.  Theodore:   cited,  107,  131. 

Bergeron,  Pierre:  cited,  13. 

Berlin,  keys  of  captured  cities  in  museum 
of,  262. 

Beth-el :  Jacob  at,  160 ;  meaning  of,  160. 

Betrothal  :  ceremony  in  Russia,  32  ; 
threshold  custom  in  Central  Ameri- 
ca, 34. 

Beyroot,  boundary  marks  near,  178. 

Biaz,  B. :  cited,  21. 

Bible  :  carried  into  new  home  in  Penn- 
sylvania, 21  ;  references  to  lifting 
up  hands  unto  God,  82  f.  ;  refer- 
ences to  leaping  over  threshold. 
117;  reference  to  temple  threshold 
as  fitting  place  of  worship,  117;  its 
record  of  man,  224. 

Bingham,  Joseph :  cited,  136 ;  quota- 
tion from,  136  f. 

Bird,  Isabella:  cited,  20,  72,  96,  101, 
104  f.,  126,  151. 

Birth:  custom  in  Bombay,  17;  new, 
help  to,  199. 

Birthday,  striking  child  on  his,  176. 

Bishop,  Isabella  Bird.  See  Isabella  Bird. 

Bishop  of  Paris,  reference  to,  139. 

"  Bismillah,"  use  of  word,  on  passing 
threshold,  10. 

Black  hand:  among  Pecos,  87^,  Jica- 
rilla  Apaches,  89  f.  ;  in  Korea,  93  f. 

Black  stone  of  Meccah,  reference  to,  10. 

Blessing,  spiritual,  represented  in  Assy- 
rian sculpture,  231. 

Bliss,  Dr.  Frederick  J.  :  cited,  58 

Blood  :  welcome  at  door  in  Syria  and 
Egypt,  3-10;  stepping  over,  in  East, 
4  f.,  7  f.,  26  ;  coffee  as  substitute  for, 
5;  salt  as  substitute  for,  5,  9,  20;  in 
threshold  in  Central  Africa,  8  f.  ; 
poured  out  on  threshold  in  cove- 
nanting, 14  f.  ;  threshold  sprinkled 
with,  in  Ireland,  21  ;  hospitality  in 
outpoured,  among  Arabs,  23 ;  at 
threshold  in  marriage  ceremony  in 
desert  of  Sinai,  in  Egypt,  in  Turkey. 
26;  stepping  over,  in  marriage  in 
Cyprus,  27  ;  wedding-party  to  step 
over,  among  Armenians,  27 ;  step- 


ping over  in  Central  Africa,  28  :  and 
fire,  significance  of,  40  ;  world-wide 
custom  of  laying  foundations  in,  46  ; 
foundation -laying  in,  in  Hindo- 
stan,  Burmah.Tennasserin,  Borneo, 
Japan,  Galam,  Yarriba,  Polynesia, 
51  f.;  on  foundation-stone  in  Greece. 
53  ;  of  thousands  of  captives  at  con- 
secration of  altar  in  Mexico,  56  ;  on 
threshold  deemed  essential  factor 
in  covenant  with  deity,  57;  voice 
of,  among  Arabs,  59 ;  poured 
across  road  to  secure  help  in  ne- 
cessity in  Morocco,  63  ;  hand 
dipped  in,  struck  upon  door-posts 
in  Stamboul,  66  f. ;  on  lintel  and 
door-posts,  66;  of  wedding  sacri- 
fice placed  on  door-posts,  67  f.  ; 
sentences  in,  on  door-posts  as 
protection  from  disease  in  China, 
71  ;  on  bow,  or  threshold,  of  Chi- 
nese junk,  72;  affixed  to  post  or 
walls  of  new  house  in  Palestine, 
76  f.  ;  of  Christians,  hand  dipped  in, 
stamped  on  wall  to  seal  victory  over 
them,  77  ;  or  ink  used  in  hand 
or  finger  stamp,  93  f.  ;  of  sacrifice 
sprinkled  on  door  in  Guatemala,  98  ; 
of  sacrifice  at  base  of  altar  at  Yeha, 
131 ;  proffer  of,  foundation  of  fam- 
ily, 194  ;  stains  exhibited  in  Western 
Africa,  246. 

"  Blood  of  the  grape,"  in  covenant,  5,  8. 

Blood-color,  doorways  painted,  104. 

Bloody  grass  representing  dignity  and 
power,  15. 

Bloody  hand  :  stamped  in  dough  placed 
on  lintel,  28  f.  ;  on  lintel  of  temple 
at  Jerusalem,  67 ;  on  walls  among 
Jews  in  Tunis,  78  f.  ;  red  seal  on 
modern  documents  probably  sur- 
vival of,  94 ;  in  testimony  to  cove- 
nant, 244  f.     See,  also,  Red  hand. 

Bloody  sacrifices  at  temple  thresholds 
in  India,  122. 

Blue  hands  on  houses  in  Palestine,  76. 

Blunt,  J.  H.  :  cited,  137. 

Boaz  meeting  elders  at  gate  in  justice 
to  Ruth  and  Naomi,  64. 

"  Bodhi-Gaya"  reference  to,  156. 

Body,  not  to  cross  threshold,  23-25. 

Bombay  Anthropological  Society,  refer- 
ence to,  17. 

Bombay,  birth  custom  at,  17. 

Bomoipronaioi,  134. 

Bonavia,  Dr.,  reference  to,  231. 

Bonomi,  Joseph  :  his  suggestion  regard- 
ing word  "  teraphim,"  109. 

Booddha :  commanding  temple  to  be 
built,  156  ;  and  serpent,  236. 

Boodha-drum,  reference  to,  156. 

Boodha-hood,  Sakya  Sinha  attaining 
to,  156. 

"  Boodha's  foot,"  156. 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


*77 


Booddhism  concerning  temple,  156. 

Booddhist :  Gog  and  Magog  of,  96  ;  tem- 
ples, doorways  apart  from,  104 ; 
temples,  pilgrims  at  threshold  of, 
125:  prayer  in  Tibet,  199. 

Book  of  Records,  Chinese,  reference  to, 
158. 

"  Book  of  the  Dead."  Egyptian,  refer- 
ences to,  128  f.,  257. 

Border  landmarks,  form  of,  170  f. 

Border  lines  referred  to,  183. 

Borneo  :  pig's  blood  sprinkled  at  door 
in,  20 ;  marriage  custom  in,  34  ; 
survival  of  foundation -laying  in 
blood  in,  51  f. 

Borsippa  :  sanctity  of  doorway  in,  108  f.; 
temple  of,  threshold  plated  with 
zariru,  111. 

Bothnia,  East,  iron  bar  on  threshold  for 
cows  to  cross,  17. 

Botta,  P.  E.  :  cited,  109. 

Boundary:  references  to,  13, '17,  154, 
165-192,  234  ;  as  place  of  worship  and 
sacrifice,  166 ;  stones,  importance 
of,  167  ;  Nebo  protector  of,  177. 

Bourke,  Capt.  J.  G.  :  cited,  87. 

Bowing :  to  gate  on  leaving  bride's 
home  in  Russia,  44  ;  before  thresh- 
old, 126. 

Boys  sacrificed  in  Central  America,  145. 

Brahmanas,  reference  to,  197. 

Brahmanic  religion  concerning  temples, 

155  f- 

Brahmanical  Mahadeva,  commanding 
temple  to  be  built,  156. 

Brandy  offered  to  threshold  gods  in 
Russia,  32  f.,  43  f. 

Bread  :  placed  under  threshold  as 
'gods'"  portion.  32;  thrown  over 
bride  at  door  in  Scotland,  34,  44  ; 
and  honey  placed  on  bride's  gate- 
post in  Russia,  42  f. 

Bread  and  salt :  at  threshold  in  Russia, 
9  ;  in  hospitality  among  Arabs,  22  ; 
as  factors  in  sacred  covenant,  32. 

"  Breaking  the  stick  "  at  threshold  in 
Skarpanto,  31. 

Bremen,  skeleton  of  child  found  in  walls 
of  Bridge  Gate  of,  50. 

Bridal  couple  carried  across  threshold 
in  Central  America,  45. 

Bride  :  made  to  step  over  blood  of  sac- 
rifice in  Syria.  26  ;  in  Central  Africa, 
27  f  ;  called  "  princess  "  at  wedding 
in  Russia,  32 ;  bread  thrown  over, 
at  door  in  Scotland,  34,  44  ;  carried 
over  threshold  among  Towkas,  35, 
in  Abyssinia,  Egypt,  and  Upper 
Syria,  38,  in  West  Africa,  39,  in 
Russia,  44  ;  to  step  over  threshold 
among  Hindoos,  36  f.:  not  lifted 
over  threshold  in  India,  38  ;  borne 
in  sedan-chair  to  new  home,  39  f.: 
carried  over  fire  in  China,  40 ;  wor- 


shiping at  altar-fire  of  new  home  in 
India,  China,  Greece,  and  Rome,  41 ; 
inducted  into  household  office  at 
hearth,  44 ;  represented  by  the 
Church,  218,  221. 

Bridegroom :  to  step  over  blood  at 
threshold  in  Central  Africa,  27  f.; 
bread  thrown  over,  at  door,  34  ; 
Jesus  called,  218  ;  of  blood,  244. 

British  envoy  welcomed  at  threshold  of 
Kanzeroon,  189. 

Bronze  bulls  on  gates  of  Babylon,  109  f. 

"  Bronze  threshold,"  reference  to,  132. 

Broom  laid  across  door-sill  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, 21. 

Browne,  Edward  G.,  reference  to,  104. 

Bruce,  James:  quotation  from,  9  ;  cited, 
38,  130- 

Brugsch  Bey :  references  to,  103,  127, 
161,  179  f.,  184  f. 

Brush-topped  pole  as  symbol,  214. 

"  Buddha-Gaya,"  reference  to,  156. 

"  Buddha-pad,"  reference  to,  156. 

Buffaloes  sacrificed  in  Egypt,  7. 

Biihler,  G.  :  cited,  169. 

Bukahola  temple  in  Sandwich  Islands, 
150- 

Bulgarian  foundation  custom,  53. 

Bullock  :  sacrificed  at  door  for  guest,  4  ; 
sacrifice  of,  7  f. 

Bulls :  winged,  with  human  heads  to 
guard  entrance  way,  95 ;  of  bronze 
on  gates  of  Babylon,  109  f. ;  as  guar- 
dians of  threshold  in  Babylonia, 
no  f.;  of  bronze,  in  Babylon,  234. 

Bunsen,  Chevalier,  reference  to,  in. 

Burckhardt,  John  Lewis :  cited,  26,  38, 
191 ,  244-246. 

Burder,  Samuel :  cited,  13. 

Burials  made  under  threshold  in  East 
and  West,  25. 

Buried  images,  symbols  and  treasures 
under  temple  doorways,  109. 

Burmah,  survival  of  foundation  laying 
in  blood  in,  51  f 

Burton,  Richard  F.  :  cited,  164  ;  quota- 
tion from,  248  f. 

Burying  women  and  children  in  founda- 
tion, 18,  50. 

Bush  as  symbol  of  feminine  in  nature, 
214. 

Bush,  George,  reference  to,  112. 

Busrah,  women  exhibiting  evidences  at, 
248. 

Butter  or  honey  smeared  on  door-posts 
among  Waliachians,  29. 

Buxtorf,  John  :  cited,  200,  253. 

"  By  door,"  entering  house,  6. 

Byzantine  age,  sarcophagi  of,  showing 
altar  at  threshold,  121. 

Cairo  :  Arab  sitting  in  judgment  at 
gate  of,  60  ;  protecting  genius  of 
different  quarters  of,  96  f. 


73 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


Calling  on  name  of  God  at  threshold,  29. 
Calpe  and  Abyla  as  boundary  marks, 

181. 
Cam,  Diego,  discoverer  of  Congo  River, 

182. 
Campbell,  John  :  cited,  39. 
Canaan  :  gateway  between  Egypt  and, 

105;  Israelites   entering   into,   211; 

people  of,  treatment  of,  232. 
Candle  on  threshold  in  Russia,  41-44. 
Candlestick,    five  branched,  similar    to 

sign  of  hand,  77. 
Cao,  Diego,  reference  to,  182. 
Cardea,  Hinge-goddess  of  Romans,  97. 
Carlyle,  Thomas  :    cited,  183. 
Carpathos.     See  Skarpanto. 
Carthage  :  uplifted  hand  above  door  in, 

78 ;    prominence  of    door   in,    107 ; 

prominence  of  temple  threshold  in, 

130. 
Cassotis  spring,  reference  to,  135. 
Catholic  Church,  Roman  :    holy  water 

in,  147  ;  on  marriage,  222. 
Catlin,    George :    quotation   from,   and 

reference  to,  86. 
Cave,  fire  at  entrance  of,  23. 
Central  America  :  threshold  custom  in, 

34  ;  blood  smeared  on  doorways  in, 

72  ;  red  hand  stamped  on  doorways 

and  walls  in,  81    f. ;    "the  god  of 

houses  "  in,  98  ;  sacrifice  of  boys  in, 

145- 

Ceremony  :  wedding  threshold  in  North 
Germany,  18  ;  of  laying  threshold 
in  India,  95. 

Ceylon,  Adam  settling  in,  164. 

Chahalka,  "  the  god  of  houses,"  in  Cen- 
tral America,  08. 

Chamberlain,  Basil  Hall :  cited,  101, 104. 

Chambers's  Journal,  reference  to,  175. 

Charans,  appeal  at  threshold  for  justice 
among,  61. 

Chardin,  Sir  John  :  cited,  124. 

Charms :  on  threshold  and  door  in 
Uganda,  15 ;  under  door-step  in 
Russia,  19  ;  fastened  above  door  in 
China,  71  ;  on  doors  and  door-posts 
in  China,  71, 95  ;  worn  in  Jerusalem, 

75  f- 

Chase,  W.  G.,  quotation  from,  51. 

Chateaubraud,  Viscount  de  :  cited,  147. 

Chaucer,  Geoffrey,  quotation  from,  139. 

Cheetham,  Samuel.  See  Smith  and 
Cheetham. 

Chelly  canyon,  red-hand  symbol  in,  87. 

Cheyennes,  red  hand  among,  87. 

Chicago,  Columbian  Exposition  at, 
reference  to,  57. 

Chief  rabbi,  in  Jerusalem,  sacrifice  at 
threshold  in  installing,  67. 

Child  :  held  over  threshold  after  bap- 
tism, 18  f.  ;  buried  in  ramparts  of 
Copenhagen,  49  ;  buried  under  cita- 
del of  Dyetinets,  50  ■    adopted  into 


family  by  clasping  hands  in  Baby- 
lonia, 80  ;  striking,  on  birthday,  176. 

Children  :  custom  of,  relative  to  boun- 
dary lines,  13  ;  buried  under  thresh- 
old in  Russia,  18  ;  buried  in 
foundations,  49  f. ;  sacrifice  of,  in 
Central  America,  145. 

China :  body  to  be  removed  over  wall, 
23  ;  fire  on  threshold  in  marriage  in, 
39  ;  bride  worshiping  at  altar-fire  in, 
41  ;  human  sacrifice  to  make  sure 
foundations  in,  48  ;  coins  and  charms 
underdoor-sill  in,  71 ;  sacred  inscrip- 
tions on  side-posts  and  lintel  in,  71  ; 
tutelar  gods  of  threshold  in,  95  f.  ; 
temple  and  house  in  architecture, 
101  ;  doorways  apart  from  temples 
in,  104  ;  sacredness  of  temple  in,  158; 
nuptial  customs  of,  196  ;  phallic  em- 
blems in,  230  ;  marriage  customs  in, 

245- 

Chinese  :  custom  of  avoiding  threshold, 
23  f.  ;  native  clergyman,  testimony 
of,  48  ;  year,  festival  of  fifth  month 
of,  71 ;  junk,  sacrifice  on  bow  of, 
71  f.  ;  honorary  portals  and  ancestral 
tablets,  108;  classics,  most  ancient  of, 
185;  emperor  passing  boundary  line 
of  empire,  185  ;  characters  for  thresh- 
old, door,  border,  and  woman,  256. 

"  Chinese  gods  of  the  threshold,"  96. 

Chipiez,  Charles.  See  Perrot  and 
Chipiez. 

"  Christ,  spouse  of,"  222. 

"  Christening  "  ship,  custom  of,  8. 

Christian  :  lands,  niches  for  heroes  in, 
survival  primitive  doorway  in  tomb 
in,  108  ;    passover,  reference  to,  216. 

Christian  churches  :  of  Europe,  burials 
under  altar  of,  25  ;  tradition  of  burial 
of  lamb  under  altar  of,  56  ;  symbol 
of  horseshoe  at    threshold  of,  74. 

Christian  Fathers,  reference  to,  97. 

Christians  :  inscribed  gates  of,  in  East, 
70  ;  in  Syria,  sign  of  hand  among, 
76  f.  ;  warned  not  to  dishonor  their 
gates  with  laurel  crowns,  97  ;  ad- 
monished not  to  make  their  gates 
heathen  temples,  98  ;  kissing  thresh- 
old of  church  in  Persia,  124. 

Church  House  in  Philadelphia,  reference 
to,  55. 

Church  of  England  bishops  replying  to 
Presbyterians  on  position  of  bap- 
tismal font,  137. 

Churches  always  on  hill  or  in  grove  in 
Abyssinia,  130  f. 

Cicero,  hearth-fire  and  Penates  in  time 
of,  41. 

Cimon,  gate  of,  in  Propylaea,  159. 

Circumcision  as  practiced  in  Mada- 
gascar, 149. 

Cities  of  refuge  :  Hebrew  law  as  to,  151  ; 
in  Hawaii,  151. 


TOPICAL  INDEX, 


279 


Clapping  of  hands  at  threshold  in  Japan, 
126. 

Classic  writers  :  their  explanation  of 
threshold  custom.  39. 

••  Cleansing  the  threshold"  at  wedding 
in  Russia,  32. 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  reference  to,  239. 

Clothing  stamped  with  red  hand,  87. 

Coal  under  threshold  among  Magyars, 
19  f. 

Cock  sacrificed :  in  Ireland,  21 ;  at 
foundation  in  Russia,  54  f. 

Cockle,  Montague,  reference  to,  233. 

Coffee  as  Muhammadan  substitute  for 
blood,  5. 

Columbian  Exposition,  reference  to,  57. 

Com,  tomb  of  kings  of  Persia  at,  124. 

Comanches :  prominence  of  red  hand 
among,  87  ;  reference  to,  88. 

Communion  feasts,  origin  of,  226. 

Concord,  beating  bounds  in,  176. 

Conder,  Maj.  C.  R.  :  quotation  from, 
10,  28  f.  :  cited,  123. 

Confucius,  reference  to,  256  f. 

Confucian  temple,  doorways  apart  from, 
104. 

Congo  River,  boundary  pillar  erected  in 
mouth  of,  182. 

Constantinople,  red  hand  stamp  in,  77. 

Contemporary  Review,  reference  to,  229. 

Convent,  trace  of  foundation  sacrifice  in 
rebuilding,  56. 

Cook,  Capt.  James  :  cited,  202  ;  quota- 
tion from,  250  f. 

Coote,  H.  C  :  cited,  50,  55  f. 

Copenhagen,  immuring  of  child  in 
ramparts  of,  49. 

Copts,  sacrifice  of  sheep  at  threshold 
among,  26,  45. 

Coral  hand  as  talisman  among  Jews  at 
Tunis,  79. 

Cord  stretched  across  door  to  prevent 
bridal  couple  entering,  33  f. 

Corn :  and  water  used  in  threshold 
ceremony,  16  f.  ;  mixed  with  milk 
and  sugar  as  offering,  17;  thrown 
on  bride  at  threshold  in  Rhodes,  31. 

Corner-stone :  laying  as  survival  of 
primitive  sacredness,  22  ;  recognized 
as  beginning  or  limit  of  threshold 
of  Babylonian  buildings,  22  ;  cere- 
monies in  civilized  lands,  55 ;  lay- 
ing of,  in  America,  55,  147. 

Cornhill  Magazine,  reference  to,  48-50,56. 

Corinthian  Christians,  Paul  to,  216. 

Corpse  :  not  to  cross  threshold  in  India, 
China,  and  Italy,  23  f.,  in  Alaska, 
24  :  passed  out  under  threshold  in 
Russia,  24. 
Correspondences  of  legends  of  Baby- 
lonia, Syria,  Egypt  and  Greece  as 
to  door  and  threshold,  115. 
Cossacks,  disputes  over  boundary  lines 
among,  175. 


Cotton  seeds  thrown  on  bride  at  thresh- 
old in  Rhodes,  31. 

Coulanges,  Numa  D.  F.  de :  cited,  41, 
99,  156. 

Covenant :  through  blood  in  Egypt.  3  ; 
Syria,  3-5 ;  symbolized  by  uplifted 
hand,  81  ;  sacrifice  at  threshold 
with  God  of  life,  94  ;  worship  place 
of,  165. 

Covenanting:  by  crossing  threshold, 
5-10  ;  by  stepping  over  blood  on 
door-sill,  9. 

Cow :  gift  from  sacred,  in  India,  16 ; 
driven  over  iron  bar  on  threshold, 
17  ;  sacrifice  of,  in  Ireland,  21. 

Cowdung  cake  at  seed-time  in  India,  16. 

Cranch,  C.  P.,  quotation  from,  130. 

Croix,  de  la,  J.  F.,  reference  to,  124. 

Cross:  sign  of,  in  curing  disorder,  18; 
drawn  on  threshold  to  keep  off  hags, 
18;  under  threshold  of  new  house 
in  Lithuania,  18. 

Crowbar  at  threshold,  17. 

Crux  ansata  or  ankh,  201. 

Cunningham,  Alexander :  reference  to, 
156  f. 

Curse:  for  removing  threshold  altar, 
169  f.  ;  for  removal  of  neighbor's 
landmark,  170. 

Curtea  de  Argest,  superstition  regard- 
ing sacrifice  at  building  of,  52. 

Curtin,  Jeremiah  :  cited,  142  f. 

Cushing,  Frank  H.,  communication 
from,  86-93. 

Cyprus  :  fowl  sacrificed  at  door  in,  27  ; 
prominence  of  door  in,  107. 

Cyrus,  reference  to,  154. 

Dacotahs,  symbol  of  hand  among,  84. 

Dagon,  his  overthrow,  116  f. 

Dahabiyeh,  threshold  custom  on  pur- 
chasing, 8. 

Dahomey,  nuptial  customs  of,  245. 

Dalmatia,  kissing  threshold  in,  31. 

Damascus,  Hajj  procession  approaching, 
186. 

Dances  of  American  Indians,  promi- 
nence of  hand  in,  83  f. 

Dancing  custom  inCentralAmerica,  247. 

Danes,  immuring  of  girl  in  city  walls 
among,  49;  lamb  buried  under  every 
altar  of,  56. 

Daniel  in  gate  of  king,  64. 

Darfour,  marriage  ceremonies  in,  240. 

Darmesteter,  James:  cited,  58;  refer- 
ence to,  99. 

David  :  sitting  in  gate,  64  ;  erecting 
altar  to  Lord,  161. 

De  Amicis,  Edmondo  :  cited,  77. 

De  Coulanges,  Numa  D.  F.  de  :  cited, 
41,  156  ;  reference  to,  99. 

De  Hesse-Wartegg,  Chevalier:  cited, 
79. 

Dead  :  not  to  cross  threshold  in  India, 


230 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


China,  23  f.,  Korea,  Russia,  Italy, 
Alaska,  24 ;  taken  over  wall  in 
China,  23  f.  ;  taken  under  threshold 
in  Russia,  24  ;  prayers  for,  inscribed 
on  false  door  of  tombs  of  Egypt,  106. 

"  Dead,  Book  of  the,"  references  to, 
128  {.,  257. 

"  Dead,  Gate  of  the,"  in  Korea,  24. 

Death  following  building  of  new  house, 
54- 

"  Death  Week  "  among  Slavonic  peo- 
ples, 19. 

Dedications  on  doorways  by  primitive 
peoples,  69. 

Deer  carried  over  threshold  in  betrothal 
in  Central  America,  34. 

Deity  :  appeal  to,  in  East,  3  f.  ;  of  an- 
cient Egypt  with  uplifted  hands, 
81 ;  of  threshold,  reference  to,  109  ; 
of  gates  of  Hades,  113. 

Delhi  and  serpent,  236. 

Delitzsch,  Franz,  reference  to,  254. 

Delitzsch,  Friedrich,  reference  to,  100. 

"  Dead,  Book  of  the,"  references  to, 
128  f.,  257. 

Delphi :  treasures  of,  described,  133  ; 
Neoptolemus  attacking  Orestes  in, 
134  ;  temple  of  Apollo  at,  134  f.  ; 
Apollo  at,  represented  by  female 
oracle,  236. 

Deluge  :  reference  to,  103  ;  destruction 
of  Holy  House  in,  163. 

Detinetz,  burial  in  foundations  in,  50. 

Development  and  origin  of  man,  223. 

D'Herbelot,  quotation  from,  10  f. 

Diabateria,  meaning  of,  208. 

Dido,  Queen,  ./Eneas  at  court  of,  130. 

Dieulafoy,  M. :  cited,  60. 

"  Digging  through  "  in  New  Testament, 
260. 

Dillmann,  Christian  F.  A.,  reference  to, 
254- 

Ditya,  reference  to,  50. 

Dives,  Lazarus  at  gate  of,  64. 

Divination  and  exorcism  in  Italy,  17. 

Documents  signed  in  blood  or  ink,  94. 

Domestic  divinities,  protection  from,  in 
Lithuania,  18  f. 

"  Domovoi :  "  household  deity  of  Rus- 
sia, sacrifice  for,  19  ;  invoked  at 
threshold.  23. 

Donaldson,  T..  reference  to,  86. 

Donaldson,  T.  L.,  references  to,  121, 
134,  231. 

Donatus  :  cited,  29  f. 

Doolittle,  Rev.  Justus  :  cited,  71. 

Door  :  animal  sacrifices  at  house-door 
in  Egypt,  3,  7,  8,  9,  14,  15,  among 
Pythagoreans,  12  {.,  among  Sla- 
vonic peoples,  iq,  among  Dyaks  of 
Borneo,  20,  in  Ireland,  21,  among 
Arabs,  22  f.,  in  Syria,  26,  45,  in 
Turkey,  Cyprus,  and  Central  Afri- 
ca, 27,  in  Egypt,  45,  all  over  world, 


46,  in  Greece,  53,  in  Russia,  54,  in 
Arabia,  58-60,  in  Morocco,  63,  67, 
in  Turkey,  66  f.,  in  Jerusalem,  67, 
in  China,  72,  in  Palestine,  76,  in 
tabernacle  in  Wilderness,  118  f., 
in  South  Sea  Islands,  148  ;  blood 
welcome  at,  in  Syria  and  Egypt, 
3-10,  Central  Africa,  8  f.,  West 
Africa,  9,  Egypt,  7,  205  ;  charms 
placed  at,  in  Uganda,  15,  in  Russia, 
19,  in  China,  71,  in  Jerusalem,  75  f.  ; 
dead  not  to  pass  out  of,  23-25  : 
human  sacrifice  at,  in  Central 
Africa,  8  f.,  references  to,  46-48, 
51  f.,  144  f.,  in  China  and  Algiers, 
48,  in  Denmark  and  Thuringia,  49, 
on  Danube  and  in  Alaska,  49  f.,  in 
Bremen,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  50, 
in  Arta,  Tricha,  and  Wallachia,  52, 
in  Turkey,  52  f.,  in  India,  61,  122  f., 
in  Tibet,  125,  in  Central  America, 
145  f.  ;  kissing  right  hand  at,  69  f., 
144,  serpent  at,  in  Yesidis  temple, 
116,  of  holy  places,  116,  at  mosk 
in  Persia,  123  f.,  at  tomb  of  Alee, 
124  ;  sacredness  of,  10-25,  I02,  x74, 
260,  in  Persia,  12,  123  f.,  references 
to,  25-36,  among  Nestorians,  124, 
among  Scandinavians  in  America, 
259  f.,  in  Bible  times,  261  ;  stepping 
over  blood  at,  in  Syria  and  Egypt, 
4  f.,  7  f.,  26,  45  f.,  in  West  Africa, 
9,  in  marriage  in  Cyprus,  27,  among 
Armenians,  27,  in  Central  Africa, 
28  ;  reference  to,  254,  256. 

Door-key,  finger-shaped,  symbolic  use 
of,  244. 

Dorpfeld,  Dr.,  reference  to,  159. 

Dough  :  on  door-lintel  in  Upper  Syria, 
28  f. ;  under  threshold  among  Mok- 
sha,  42. 

Douglas,  Robert  K.  :  cited,  40 ;  reference 
to,  105. 

Dozy,  Reinhart,  reference  to,  200. 

Dragon  representing  unholy  desire,  240. 

Du  Bois,  Abbe  J.  A.  :  cited,  23. 

Dumuzi  and  Ishtar,  legend  of,  113. 
"5- 

Dwelling-place,  man's  first,  165. 

Dyaks  of  Borneo  :  blood  sprinkled  at 
door  among,  20  ;  marriage  custom 
among,  34. 

Dyetina,  reference  to,  50. 

Dyetinets,  burial  in  foundations  in,  50. 

Dying  person  passed  through  hole  in 
wall  in  Alaska,  24. 

Ea,  god  of  right  side  of  gate,  95. 

Early  churches,  position  of  altar  in,  136. 

Easter :  continuance  of  Passover,  221  ; 
festivities  in  Jerusalem,  221 ;  thresh- 
old of  new  Ecclesiastical  Year,  221. 

Ebed-melech  :  his  appeal  in  behalf  of 
Jeremiah,  64. 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


281 


Edersheim,  Dr.  Alfred,  references  to, 
120,  211  f. 

Edward  I.,  marriage  of,  at  door,  140. 

Eggs  under  threshold  in  Russia,  19. 

Egypt :  blood  welcome  at  door  in,  3 ; 
sacrifice  of  buffaloes  in,  7 ;  thresh- 
old sacrifice  of  sheep  in,  7  f.;  sacri- 
fice at  threshold  in,  26  ;  bride  met 
at  gate  of  husband's  residence  in, 38; 
door  at  one  side  of  dwelling  in, 
55 ;  its  influence  shown  in  archi- 
tecture of  doorways,  60  ;  inscribed 
doors  in,  68,  96 ;  uplifted  hand  in 
representing  deities  of,  79,  81,  85; 
God  bringing  out  of,  with  strong 
hand,  83  ;  and  Canaan,  gateway  be- 
tween, 105  ;  prominence  of  doorway 
shrine  in,  106  ;  false  door  as  gift  in, 
107  ;  literature  cf,  109  ;  oldest  temple 
in,  126  ;  sacredness  of  doorway  in, 
126  ;  saints'  tomb  as  place  of  worship 
in,  129  ;  temples  of,  145  ;  concerning 
temple  foundations  of,  155  ;  boun- 
dary customs  among,  178  ;  ancient 
stone  thresholds  in,  179  :  Lower, 
boundary  of,  180  ;  southern  boun- 
dary of,  184;  nuptial  customs  of, 
196  ;  ancient  deities  of,  201 ;  pres- 
ence of  deity  in,  201  ;  Virgin  of 
Israel  in,  218  ;  reverence  for  phallic 
emblems  in,  230  ;  kings  of,  and  ser- 
pent, 234  ;  and  serpent  as  symbol, 
235 ;  bloody  cloth  in  marriage  in 
Upper,  243  ;  marriage  customs  in, 
243.  245. 

Egyptian  :  sacrifice  before  door,  14  ; 
king,  power  imparted  to,  by  touch, 
85  ;  hieroglyph  for  house  or  temple 
identical,  100 ;  temple,  oldest  form 
of,  100,  monumental  temple  gate- 
way, 127.  history  of,  155;  priest, 
prostrations  of,  at  threshold  of 
shrine,  127  f.;  idea  of  future  life, 
128  ;  "  Book  of  the  Dead,"  128  f., 
257 ;  empire  and  Heli,  boundary 
marks  between,  179;  sacrifices  at 
boundaries  of  empire,  184  ;  twofold 
sex  symbols,  200  ;  attitude  towards 
Jehovah,  205 ;  passover  rite,  212, 
214,  216. 

Eki  as  boundary  mark,  178. 

El  Gisr  or  threshold,  180. 

Eleusis,  temple  of  Artemis  Propylsea 
at,  134. 

Eliezer,  Rabbi,  references  to,  200,  253. 

Elisha  and  Naaman,  Syrian,  161. 

Elliot,  Sir  Henry  M.  :  cited,  16  f. 

Ellis,  Rev.  William  :  cited,  83,  m, 
148,  150  f.,  202. 

Embatikon,  gift  of  in-going,  31. 

Embleton,  wedding  custom  at,  142. 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo  :  cited,  176. 

Enemy,  appeal  of,  for  protection  among 
Arabs,  59. 


Entering  "  not  by  door,"6. 

Entrance-way,  importance  of,  2. 

Episcopal,  Protestant,  churches,  loca- 
tion ot  baptismal  font  in,  147. 

Epithalamium  of  Hebrew  Scriptures, 
214. 

Erman,  Adolf :  cited,  55,  100,  103,  106, 
127,  234;  quotation  from,  106  f., 
155  ;   reference  to,  128. 

Erzas :  marriage  custom  of,  41 :  earth 
from  under  threshold  for  bride,  43. 

Esarhaddon,  his  search  for  boundary 
lines,  154,  177. 

Eskimos,  importance  of  threshold 
among,  39. 

Euelmash,  ancient  Babylonian  temple, 
153- 

Eulbar,  ancient  Babylonian  temple,  153. 

Euphrates,  boundary  marks  at,  178. 

Euripides  :  cited,  134  f. 

Europe  :  treading  on  threshold  in,  13 ; 
burials  under  altar  in  Christian 
churches  in,  25 ;  coffin  passed  out 
window  of  house  in,  25 ;  window 
opened  and  door  closed  at  death  in, 
25 ;  horseshoes  on  side-posts  in, 
73  f.  ;  symbols  of  open  hand  found  in 
museums  and  Jewish  cemeteries  of, 
79  ;  hand-print  in  marriage  in,  93  ; 
traces  of  primitive  sacredness  of 
doorway  found  in,  122 ;  ancient 
shrines  in,  150;  boundary  lines  in, 
174  ;  great  divisions  of  landmarks 
along  borders  of,  182  ;  nuptial  cus- 
toms of,  196 ;  Jews  of,  observing 
passover,  212. 

Evil  eye  :  references  to,  19. 67  ;  averted 
by  bloody  hand,  67  f.  ;  by  five 
fingers  held  up  to,  76 ;  image  of 
hand  as  talisman  against,  79. 

Evil  spirits  in  Pennsylvania,  guard 
against,  21. 

Ewing,  Rev.  William  :  testimony  of,  45, 
261 ;  cited,  77. 

"Exalted  Gateway,"  high  court  of 
Turkey  called,  65,  103. 

Exalted  House,  Gate,  or  Door,  mean- 
ing of  Pharaoh,  103. 

Exorcism  and  divination  in  Italy,  17  f. 

Eye,  evil.     See  Evil  eye. 

Ezekiel  :  his  reference  to  waters  from 
under  threshold  of  temple,  114  ;  his 
prophecy  that  Prince  of  Israel  should 
worship  at  threshold  of  gate,  118  ; 
his  vision  of  glory  of  Lord  over 
threshold,  118 ;  Jehovah  speaking 
through,  213. 

Ezida  (Nebo)  shrine  of,  no. 

"  Fahazza"  in  Madagascar,  149. 
False  door  :  of  tombs  in  ancient  Egypt, 

106  f.  ;   as  gift  from    sovereign    to 

subject  in  Egypt,  107. 
Family  :  altar  and  sacrifices  for,  in  primi- 


282 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


tive  times,  3  ;  offering  itself  for 
sacrifice  in  Central  Africa,  8  f. ;  life, 
beginning  of,  in  threshold  rite,  194. 

Fathers,  Christian,  reference  to,  93. 

Feast  after  sacrifice  :  4,  7  ;  at  beginning 
of  spring  among  Slavonic  peoples, 
19  ;  of  "  hand-striking"  at  betrothal. 
32  f. 

Fecundity,  lotus  flower  symbol  of,  257. 

Fellaheen  threshold  custom  in  Pales- 
tine, 29. 

Fellows,  Sir  Charles  :  cited,  121. 

Feminine  in  nature,  symbol  of,  214,  230, 
258. 

Fergusson,  Dr.  James :  references  to, 
103-105,  107,  231,  235-237. 

"  Festival,  Harvest,"  among  Indians 
of  lower  Mississippi,  147. 

"  Festival  of  New  Fire,"  147. 

Ficus  religiosa,  reference  to,  259. 

Fielde,  Adele  M.  :  cited,  40,  71. 

Fig:  in  religious  symbolisms,  230;  tree 
representing  female,  258. 

Figures  of  speech,  Oriental,  obscured  by 
literalism  of  Western  mind,  238. 

Finger-shaped  door-key  used  in  wed- 
ding ceremony,  244. 

Finland,  shaking  hands  across  thresh- 
old in,  12  ;  high  thresholds  in,  12 ; 
threshold  as  altar  in,  32 ;  clergy- 
man to  step  over  threshold  in,  143. 

Finmac-Coole,  print  of  hand  of,  81. 

Finn,  James  :  cited,  67. 

Fire :  and  salt  on  threshold,  21 ;  at 
entrance  to  cave  or  tent,  in  primi- 
tive times,  22  f.  ;  on  threshold  altar 
in  China,  39 ;  and  blood,  signifi- 
cance of,  40 ;  reference  to,  41  f.  ; 
references  to,  54-56,  158;  masculine 
symbol,  198  ;  production  of  sacred, 
198 ;  doorway,  origin  of,  226 ;  as 
gift  of  God,  227. 

Fire-altar  :  center  of  public  worship,  99  ; 
in  Persia,  100,  in  India,  102 ;  of 
family  developed  into  that  of  com- 
munity, 101  ;  origin  of,  226. 

First-fruits  of  grain  -  field  offered  at 
threshold,  16  f. 

Five  :  fingers  held  before  evil  eye,  76, 
extended  on  receiving  praise,  79  : 
pronouncing  word,  in  response  to 
praise,  79. 

Flaming  torch  in  Roman  marriage  cere- 
monies, 41. 

Flesh  :  of  sacrificed  animal  distributed, 
4  ;  and  blood  symbolized  by  bread 
and  salt,  9. 

"  Floor  of  the  door "  held  sacred  in 
Abyssinia,  131. 

Folk-Lore,  London,  references  to,  8,  40, 
42-44. 

Folk-Lore  Journal,  reference  to,  221. 

Folk-Lore  Journal,  London,  references 
to,  21,  27  f.,  34,  50,  56,  196. 


Folk-Lore  Record,  London,  reference 
to,  38. 

Foot:  against  threshold,  "unlucky  "  to 
strike,  12  f.;  importance  placed  on 
use  of  right,  36-38. 

Forculus,  door-god  of  Romans,  97. 

Forlong,  Gen.  J.  G.  R.  :  references  to, 
230,  237. 

"  Fornication,"  idolatry  called,  213. 

"Foundation:"  and  "threshold"  in- 
terchangeable terms,  21  f .  ;  refer- 
ences to,  47,  50,  53,  158  ;  laying  in 
blood  in  Galam,  51  f.;  sacrifice  in 
Algiers,  48,  among  Vlachs  in  Tur- 
key, 52  f.;  in  Archangel,  54  ;  in  in- 
scriptions of  Nebuchadrezzar  II., 
109  f.;  or  Papa,  152. 

Foundation-stone  as  threshold  of  build- 
ing, 46. 

Fountain  of  life  sought  for,  148. 

Fowl :  sacrificed  at  door,  4,  9,  21,  27,  45, 
54  f.;  sacrificed  at  foundation-laying 
in  Greece,  53,  in  Bulgaria,  54 ;  sac- 
rificed on  Chinese  junk  starting  on 
long  voyage,  71  f. 

Foxes,  tribe  of,  red  hand  among,  87. 

France:  marriages  in  ancient  times  in, 
139  ;  Marguerite  of,  married  to 
Edward  I.  at  door  in,  140;  rever- 
ence for  phallic  emblems  in,  230. 

Frazer,  J.  G.:  references  to,  5,  93,  209, 
230;  cited,  147,  221. 

Freytag,  G.  W.,  reference  to,  244. 

Friend  of  bridegroom  :  gifts  made  at 
threshold  by,  in  Russia,  32  ;  among 
Albanians,  37  f. 

Frog  under  threshold  among  Magyars, 
19  f. 

Frothingham,  Prof.  A.  L.,  Jr.,  testimony 
of,  24. 

Fruit :  presented  to  bride  at  threshold 
in  Dalmatia,  31 ;  in  Bible  narrative, 
238. 

Fuerst,  Julius  :  cited,  244. 

Funeral :  salt  on  threshold  in  Japan 
after,  20 ;  coffin  passed  out  window 
at,  in  Europe  and  America,  25. 

Gapriel  kissing  threshold  of  gate,  124. 

Galam,  survival  of  foundation-laying  in 
blood  in,  51  f. 

"  Galeed,"  memorial  of  covenant  be- 
tween Jacob  and  Laban,  171. 

Galilee,  Sea  of,  reference  to,  n. 

Gardner,  Dr.  Percy  :  cited,  7  ;  reference 
to,  263. 

Garlic  placed  under  threshold  among 
Magyars,  19  f. 

Garnett,  L.  M.  J.  :  cited,  27,  30;  quota- 
tion from,  53. 

Gate  :  justice  at  palace,  in  Persepolis, 
60;  of  camp  of  Israel,  Moses  at,  63  ; 
inscribed,  among  Muhammadans, 
70  ;    dishonoring,    among    Greeks, 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


2§3 


97  :  image  as  gate  in  New  Zealand, 
107  f. ;  gods  of,  95,  no,  113.  127- 
129  ;  of  Beltis,  95,  at  Medina,  at 
Ghuznee,  of  mosk  at  Meccah, 
images  trodden  upon  at,  123  ;  keys 
of  captured  cities  preserved  in  Ger- 
many, 262. 

"  Gate  of  the  Dead  "  in  Korea,  24. 

Gate-god  of  Romans,  97. 

"  Gate  of  heaven  "  in  Jacob's  dream  at 
Bethel,  112. 

Gateway  :  sacredness  of,  among  Greeks, 
7  ;  of  city,  images  buried  under,  14. 

Gauri  feast,  worship  of  serpent  at,  259. 

Gaza,  gates  of,  carried  off  by  Samson, 
255- 

Genesis,  the  temptation  in  narrative  of: 
as  understood  by  Philo  Judseus, 
238 ;    teaching  of  Gnostic  sects  on, 

239- 

Genii,  winged,  and  winged  bulls  at  en- 
trance, 95. 

Gentleman's  Magazine,  reference  to,  74. 

Germany  :  threshold  cure  in  North,  18; 
pottery  broken  on  threshold  on  mar- 
riage eve  in  North,  33  ;  South,  Scrip- 
ture inscriptions  above  entrance  of 
houses  in,  73  ;  marriage  rites  of,  138  ; 
reverence  for  phallic  emblems  in, 
230:  term  for  women  in,  256;  em- 
perors of,  preserving  keys  of  cap- 
tured cities,  262. 

Geronimo  sacrificed  in  building  walls  of 
Algiers,  48. 

Gesenius,  Wilhelm :  cited,  83;  references 
to,  103,  210,  255. 

Ghuzzeh,  ancient  site  of  Gaza,  255. 

"Gift  of  in-going"  for  bridegroom  in 
Skarpanto,  31. 

Gifts  at  threshold  :  at  wedding  in  Russia, 
32  ;  at  marriage  among  Towkas,  35. 

Gilead,  Jacob  and  Laban  in,  171. 

Gill,  Rev.  W.  W.  :  cited,  152. 

Gingiro,  bloody  threshold  offering  in,  8  f. 

Ginsburg,  Dr.  Christian  D.  :  cited,  69  f.  ; 
references  to,  120,  212. 

Gnostic  sects,  teaching  of,  on  narrative 
in  Genesis,  239. 

Goat  sacrificed :  at  threshold  for  guest, 
4  ;  in  Central  Africa,  27  f.  ;  among 
Copts  in  Egypt,  45;  on  Arab  join- 
ing new  tribe,  59. 

Gobineau,  Count  de  :  reference  to,  104. 

God  :  of  household  party  to  marriage 
covenant,  32  ;  of  life  and  fertility, 
79  ;  of  threshold  in  China,  71,  95  f., 
in  India,  95,  in  Japan,  96,  in  Egypt, 
96  f.,  in  Greece  and  Rome,  97,  in 
Guatemala,  98 ;  of  doorways  in 
China,  Japan,  Korea,  Siam,  India, 
104 ;  Asshur  and  his  worshipers 
with  uplifted  hands,  89 ;  doorway 
shrine  as  standing-place  for,  105 ; 
of  under-world,  false  door  of  tomb 


for,  106  :  of  gates  in  Babylonia,  113  ; 
Ea  in  legend  of  Ishtar  and  Dumuzi, 
114  ;  Isis,  guardian  of  gateway,  127  ; 
Nephthys,  guardian  of  gateway, 
127 ;  Osiris — judge  of  living  and 
dead,  at  door  of  gateway,  127-129. 

"  Goddess  of  the  homestead,"  prayer  to, 
in  betrothal  in  Russia,  32. 

"  Goddess  of  the  dwelling-house,"  refer- 
ence to,  32. 

Goddess  Ishtar,  descent  of,  into  Allat's 
realm,  113  f. 

Godo  preserved  from  wedding  night  in 
Dahomey,  245. 

"  Gods  of  entrances  "  among  Romans, 
_  97- 

"Gods'  portion:"  salted  bread  under 
threshold  in  betrothal  in  Russia,  32  ; 
of  brandy  spilt  under  threshold  in 
Russia,  33. 

Godwyn,  Thomas  :  cited,  39. 

"Going  out  and  coming  in,"  reference 
to  threshold  and  deities,  109. 

Gold :  under  threshold  in  Roumania, 
20;  threshold  plated  with,  no. 

Goldsmith  struck  dead  at  threshold,  122. 

Gomme,  George  L.,  50. 

"Good  Abode,  The,"  inscribed  on  door- 
posts of  dwelling,  68. 

"Good  luck  "  from  horseshoes  on  side- 
posts  of  doorway,  73  f. 

Goodwin,  Wiiliam  W.  :  cited,  39,  41. 

Goose  sacrificed  in  Ireland,  21. 

"  Graf,"  meaning  of,  183. 

Grain,  nuts,  and  fruit  presented  to  bride 
at  threshold  in  Dalmatia,  31. 

Grant,  General  :  threshold  sacrifice  in 
honor  of,  7  f .  ;  at  border  line  of 
Assioot,  186. 

Grant-Bey,  Dr.  J.  A.  S.,  reference  to,  124. 

"Grape,  blood  of  the,"  among  Muham- 
madans,  5. 

Grass  dipped  in  blood  representing 
dignity  and  power,  15. 

Graves,  symbol  of  open  hand  above,  79. 

Gray,  Archdeacon  :  cited,  40,  72  ;  refer- 
ences to,  104,  108,  245. 

Great  Britain,  reverence  for  phallic  em- 
blems in,  230. 

Greece:  lifting  bride  over  threshold  in, 
39 ;  bride  worshiping  at  altar-fire 
in,  41  ;  flaming  torch  to  accom- 
pany bride  to  new  home  in,  41  ; 
foundation  sacrifice  in,  53  ;  reference 
to  religion  of,  97  ;  palace  and  tem- 
ple often  identical  in,  100;  position 
of  altar  in  temples  of,  134  ;  ancient 
ruins  on  sacred  foundations  of, 
158;  trees  marking  border  lines  in, 
176  ;  boundaries  in  ancient,  180  ; 
reverence  for  phallic  emblems  in, 
230:  religions  of,  and  serpent  a; 
symbol,  235  ;  prominence  of  pine- 
cone  in  ancient,  257. 


284 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


Greek  Church,  marriage  sacrament  in, 
222. 

Greeks  :  sacredness  of  city  gates  among, 
7 ;  in  Turkey,  wedding  custom 
among,  30;  altars  before  houses 
among,  72 ;  doorway  ornamented 
for  bride  among,  72  f. ;  appealing 
to  guardian  deity  at  gateway 
among,  73  ;  smearing  side-posts  of" 
gateway  with  magic  herbs  among, 
73 ;  deities  of  doors  and  gates 
among,  97 ;  temple  of,  developed 
from  dwelling-house,  100 ;  earliest 
literature  of,  in  reference  to  thresh- 
old, 132  ;  modern  Easter  observ- 
ance among,  221. 

Gregor,  Walter,  quotation  from,  34. 

Griffis,  William  Elliot :  cited,  20 ;  refer- 
ences to,  101,  104,  230. 

Grove  of  trees :  sacred  landmark  of 
boundary  in  primitive  times,  173  f.  ; 
in  religious  symbolisms,  230. 

Guardian  deity's  protection  secured  by 
stepping  over  threshold,  12. 

"Guardian  of  the  dwellings  of  Israel, 
the,"  69. 

Guardian  of  threshold  as  post  of  honor, 
119  f. 

Guarding  dwelling  by  placing  sacrifices 
on  threshold,  14. 

Guatemala :  blood  smeared  on  door- 
way in,  73 ;  "  the  god  of  houses  " 
in,  98. 

Guest :  adopted  by  bloody  sacrifice  at 
door  in  Syria  and  Egypt,  3  ;  wel- 
comed by  stepping  over  blood  at 
door  of  host,  4 ;  by  blood  among 
Arabs  of  Central  Africa,  9  ;  by  sac- 
rifice of  fowl  in  Liberia,  9  ;  refusal 
of  welcome  10,217. 

Guhl  and  Koner :  cited,  40  f.,  72,  100. 

Guzelder,  reference  to,  190. 

Gwilt,  Joseph  :  cited,  36. 

Ha.des,  Babylonian  conception  of,  113. 

Hagar  :  and  Holy  House,  tradition  of, 
163 ;  Abraham's  visit  to  home  of, 
200. 

Hags  kept  off  by  cross  drawn  on  thresh- 
old, 18. 

Hajj  procession  returning  from  Meccah, 
186. 

Hakham  Bashi,  welcome  to,  67. 

Haleb  :  reference  to,  247  ;  marriage  cus- 
toms among  Christians  at,  248. 

Hall  of  the  Two  Truths,  deceased  chal- 
lenged at  entrance  to,  129. 

Hall  of  Two-fold  Maat,  place  of  final 
judgment,  129. 

Hammaqam  or  place  of  worship,  160. 

Hand  :  stamped  on  door-lintel  in  Upper 
Syria,  28  f.;  wrought  in  silver  placed 
on  children's  necks,  76  ;  figure  of, 
similar  to  five-branched  candlestick, 


77  ;  as  symbol  on  banner  and  prayer- 
rug  in  Turkey  and  Persia,  78 ;  as 
symbol  of  Siva,  the  destroyer,  78  : 
as  emblem  of  power  in  East  Indies, 

78  ;  inscribed  on  or  above  door  in 
ancient  Carthage,  78 ;  carved  in 
coral  or  ivory  carried  by  Jewess,  79; 
open,  made  in  stone,  metal,  enamel, 
or  bone,  common  in  ancient  Egypt, 

79  ;  symbol  of  open,  found  above 
graves  near  Tunis,  79 ;  symbol  of 
uplifted,  in  Babylonia,  79  f.,  As- 
syria and  Phenicia,  80,  Egypt,  81, 
85,  Polynesia,  83,  148,  Central 
America,  148  ;  clasping  in  covenant 
in  Babylonia,  80;  print  of,  giant 
Finmac-Coole  as  signature,  81  ; 
of  clay  impressed  on  human  body 
among  American  Indians,  84  ;  print 
of,  as  symbol  on  naked  body,  84  ; 
of  bride  traced  in  ink  in  covenant 
in  Korea,  93  f.;  print  of,  as  sig- 
nature, 93  f.;  of  Muhammad  signed 
to  certificate  of  protection,  94. 

"  Hand  of  might,"  red  hand  as,  75. 

"  Hand  of  Moses,"  red  hand  called.  77. 

"Hand-striking"  feast  at  betrothal, 
32  f. 

Haran,  reference  to,  160. 

Hareema,  Arabic  term  for  woman,  256. 

Harper's  Magazine,  reference  to,  96. 

Harrison  and  Verrall,  reference  to,  159. 

Harvest  threshold  ceremony  in  India, 
16  f. 

"  Harvest  Festival"  among  Indians  of 
lower  Mississippi,  147. 

Hasselquist,  F.,  reference  to,  222. 

Hathor,  Queen,  reference  to,  184. 

Hawaii :  ancient  gods  of,  150;  cities  of 
refuge  in,  151. 

Hayes,  Isaac  I.  :  cited,  39. 

Hearth:  as  primitive  altar,  22  ;  Penates 
of  Romans  at,  23 ;  bride  taken  to, 
in  Scotland,  44. 

Hearthstone :  of  Arab  shaykh's  tent, 
22  ;  as  first  threshold  altar,  40. 

Hearn,  Lafcadio  :  cited,  72,  201  ;  quota- 
tion from,  125  f. 

Hebrew  :  word  nasa — to  lift  up  or  to 
swear,  83 ;  word  for  tent  and  taber- 
nacle, 101  ;  literature,  reference  to, 
109  ;  law  as  to  cities  of  refuge,  151, 
as  to  local  landmarks,  169 ;  new 
year,  212. 

Hebrews:  commanded  to  dedicate  door- 
ways to  living  God,  69;  sacred  ark 
of,  in  house  of  god  Dagon,  116  f. 

Hebrews,  Epistle  to,  on  threshold  sacri- 
fice, 217. 

Hebron,  reference  to,  255. 

Heh  and  Egyptian  empire,  boundary 
marks  between,  179. 

Heifer  sacrificed  at  door  for  guest,  4. 

Hen  :   sacrificed   in    Ireland,  21  ;   sacri- 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


285 


ficed  at  new  houses  among  Meta- 
wileh,  45  ;  buried  alive  under  house, 

5°- 

Henderson,  William  :  cited,  142,  160. 

Herald  in  India  responsible  with  life  for 
repayment  of  debt,  61  f. 

Herbs,  juice  of  magic,  smeared  on  door- 
posts among  Greeks,  73. 

"  Hercules,  Pillars  of,"  181. 

Hermann,  K.  F.  :  cited,  172. 

Hermes,  reference  to,  concerning  boun- 
dary lines,  171  f. 

Hermes  Propylaios,  reference  to,  159. 

Herodotus:  quotation  from,  14;  cited, 
in  ;  references  to,  229,  236. 

Herrick,  R.:  his  poem  on  marriage,  139  f. 

Hesiod,  reference  to,  132  f. 

Hesperides,  shores  of,  135. 

Heuzey,  Leon  :  cited,  29  f. 

Hiel,  Jericho's  foundation  laid  in  blood 
of  son  of,  47. 

Hieroglyphics  placed  on  door-posts  and 
lintels  in  Egypt,  68  f. 

High  thresholds  in  houses  of  Finland 
and  United  States,  and  in  Teutonic 
houses,  12. 

Highway,  king's,  reference  to,  176. 

Hilkiah,  duties  of  guardians  of  thresh- 
old in  days  of,  120. 

Hillah,  red  hand  over  doors  of  large 
khan  of,  75. 

Hilprecht,  Dr.  H.  V.  :  cited,  22,  78,  109, 
155,  209  ;  testimony  of,  33  f. ;  on  use 
of  red  hand  over  doors  in  Babylo- 
nia, 75  ;    quotation  from,  167-169. 

Hindooism,  modern,  Saivism  predomi- 
nating in,  198. 

Hindoos :  sacredness  of  threshold 
among,  11  ;  law  regarding  door-sill, 
15  ;  belief  that  evil  spirits  keep  aloof 
from  iron,  17  ;  rules  requiring  right 
foot  to  cross  threshold  first,  36  f.  ; 
sacredness  of  fire  recognized  by,  40  ; 
sacredness  of  oath  taken  at  thresh- 
old of  temple  among,  121  f.  ;  preju- 
dice against  shedding  blood,  sacri- 
fices in  spite  of,  122  f.  ;  worship  of, 
236;  exhibit  of  evidence  among,  249. 

Hindoostan,  survivals  of  foundation- 
laying  in  blood,  50. 

Hinge-goddess  of  Romans,  97. 

Hinges,  reference  to,  254. 

Hittite,  reference  to,  213. 

Hofstad,  temple  in,  160. 

Hog  sacrificed  before  door  in  Egypt,  14. 

Holland,  strewing  of  threshold  in,  33. 

Holy  water  at  doorway  of  Roman 
Catholic  churches  in  America,  147. 

Holy  Sepulcher,  Church  of,  221. 

Homer  :  cited,  100,  132  f.,  135. 

Hommel,  Prof.  Fritz  :  cited,  201. 

Honey  :  smeared  on  door-posts  among 
Wallachians,  29 ;  and  water  for 
bride   at   threshold   in   Morea,  30 ; 


and  bread  placed  on  bride's  gate- 
post, 42  f. 

Hooke,  N.,  reference  to,  265. 

Hopkins,  Prof.  Dr.  E.  W.:  cited,  6,  62, 
198,  231  ;   quotation  from,  15. 

Hormuz,  son  of  Nurshivan,  reference 
to,  11. 

"  Horns  of  the  altar,"  meaning  of,  58. 

Horus,  image  of,  over  temple  door  to 
drive  away  unclean  spirits,  127  ; 
reference  to,  179. 

Horse  :  sacrificed  at  threshold  in  Syria, 
4  f.;  passing  through  blood  of  sacri- 
fice, 7 ;  laid  in  churchyard  before 
burial  in  Sweden,  56  ;  stamped  with 
red  hand  in  Babylonia,  75  ;  covered 
with  red  hands  buried  with  Indian 
chief,  85  f. 

Horseshoe  :  nailed  to  door-sills  in  Bom- 
bay, 17,  on  door-step  in  Pennsylva- 
nia, 21,  to  side-posts  for  "  good 
luck  "  in  Europe  and  America,  73  f.; 
often  found  on  ship's  mast,  74. 

Hospitality:  law  of,  in  India,  5  f.; 
among  Arabs,  22. 

Hossein,  banners  with  open  hand  at 
commemoration  of  death  of,  78. 

House  :  preceding  temple,  3  ;  corners  of, 
sprinkled  with  blood,  in  Ireland,  21 ; 
wall  broken  for  removal  of  body,  in 
India,  23  ;  earliest  form  of  Egyp- 
tian temple,  100 ;  of  king  both  pal- 
ace and  temple,  101  f.;  to  temple, 
gradual  transition  from,  101  f. 

House-father  :  as  earliest  priest,  3  ; 
among  Hindoos,  15. 

House  of  the  Bronze  Threshold,  132. 

Household  "  teraphim,"  109. 

Hovel  earliest  form  of  Egyptian  temple, 
100. 

Hue,  Abbe  :  cited,  125. 

Hughes,  Thomas  P.  :  cited,  37,  123  ; 
reference  to,  164. 

Human  nature  and  sacredness  of  thresh- 
old, 152. 

Human  sacrifice  :  in  Zindero  and  Cen- 
tral Africa,  8  f.,  in  China,  48,  in 
Alaska,  50  f.,  in  Mexico,  56,  at 
pagoda  door  in  India,  122  f.,  on 
altar  at  temple  gate  in  Tibet,  125 ; 
in  modern  times,  47 ;  various  sub- 
stitutes for,  53  f.;  reference  to,  144. 

Human  skeletons  found  under  towers 
of  ancient  Irish,  50  f. 

Hut  earliest  form  of  Japanese  temple, 
101. 

Hwen  Thsang,  reference  to,  156. 

"  Hymen's  torch  "  in  marriage  cere- 
mony, 41. 

Hyssop,  significance  of,  214. 

Iceland,  Thorolf  of  Norway  in,  160. 
Idolaters,    threshold   and    door-post   of, 
beside  Lord's,  118. 


286 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


Idols :  at  door-altar  in  Mexico,  21  ; 
destroyed  at  gate  in  Meccah,  Me- 
dina, and  Ghuznee,  123. 

Image  as  gateway  of  village  or  cemetery 
in  New  Zealand,  107  f. 

Images:  buried  under  threshold  of 
houses,  temples,  and  city  gates,  14  ; 
in  sacred  "  upper  corner"  of  build- 
ing in  Russia,  55  ;  under  foundations 
in  ancient  Rome,  55  f.  ;  of  gods  of 
threshold  in  China,  96. 

Imbi'a,  reference  to,  60. 

Imgur-Bel  gate  in  walls  of  Babylon,  no. 

"  Imposition  of  the  Sa,  the,"  touch  of 
uplifted  hand  of  deity,  85. 

Incantations :  mantra  used  in,  15  ;  on 
paper  placed  in  door-sill  in  Penn- 
sylvania, 21. 

Incense :  placed  on  threshold,  18 ; 
exorcism  with,  18  ;  burned  on  thresh- 
old in  Tuscany,  42  ;  origin  of,  226. 

India :  law  of  threshold  in,  5  f. ;  sacred- 
ness  of  threshold  in,  16  ;  body  not  to 
cross  threshold,  23  ;  body  removed 
through  wall,  23  ;  crossing  threshold 
by  bride  in,  38 ;  bride  at  altar-fire 
in,  41 ;  appeals  in  blood  at  house- 
hold altar  in,  61  ;  refusal  to  move 
from  threshold  until  claim  is  heeded 
in,  61 ;  offering  to  threshold  god 
Vattu  in,  95 ;  fire-altar  center  of 
worship  in,  99  ;  no  temples  in  early, 
100  ;  fire-altar  on  threshold  as  place 
of  worship  in,  102 ;  doorways 
apart  from  temples  in,  104  ;  judg- 
ments at  temple  threshold  in,  122 ; 
bloody  sacrifices  at  temple  threshold 
in,  122  ;  holy  trees  in  Upper,  156 ; 
habit  of  building  sanctuary  in,  157; 
landmarks  in,  169;  laws  of,  regard- 
ing disputed  boundaries,  169;  visi- 
ble aid  of  worship  in,  198  ;  reverence 
for  phallic  emblems  in,  230  ;  serpent 
as  religious  symbol  in,  235 ;  mar- 
riage ceremonies  in,  248  ;  lotus  sym- 
bol in,  257  :  religious  custom  in,  258. 

Indian  Antiquary,  reference  to,  258. 

Indians  :  of  Mexico,  reference  to,  21  ;  of 
Yucatan,  reference  to,  82  ;  red  hand 
among  American,  85-93  '■  Natchez, 
religious  ceremonies  among,  147. 

Indies,  East,  hand  as  emblem  of  power 
in,  78. 

Indo-Aryans  and  boundary  lines,  185. 

Inscription  :  and  invocation  placed  at 
corner  of  building  in  Babylonia,  22  ; 
on  gates  and  houses  deemed  pro- 
tection against  evil  spirits,  70;  at 
doorway  in  China,  71 ;  among 
Greeks,  72 ;  on  tomb  of  kings  of 
Persia,  124 ;  showing  sanctity  of 
temple  doorways  in  Asia,  109. 

Instructress  in  matrimony  in  China,  40. 

Invocations:  on  images   buried    under 


threshold,  14  ;  and  deposits  at 
threshold  in  Babylonia,  22. 

Iona  cathedral  built  in  human  blood,  50. 

Ionia,  pillar  as  threshold  stone  in,  180. 

Ioways,  red  hand  among,  87. 

Ireland  :  sacrifice  in,  21 ;  lifting  bride 
over  threshold  in,  44  ;  human  skele- 
tons in  round  towers  in,  50;  print 
of  five  fingers  on  "  druidical  altar  " 
in,  81  ;  mode  of  marriage  in,  142  f. 

Irenseus  :  cited,  239. 

Iron  as  guard  against  evil  spirits,  17. 

Ise :  temples  of,  modeled  on  primeval 
hut,  101  ;  great  shrines  of,  chief  Mec- 
cah of  Shinto  faith,  126. 

Ishmael :  and  Holy  House,  tradition  of, 
163  ;  and  Hagar,  Abraham's  visit 
to  home  of,  200. 

Ishmael,  Rabbi :  cited,  208. 

Ishtar  :  gate  of,  95 ;  legend  of,  113. 

Isis,  guardian  of  Egyptian  temple,  127. 

Islands,  South  Sea,  temples  of,  148. 

Israel :  executing  judgment  against 
Benjamites  for  disregard  of  appeal 
at  door,  63  f.  ;  called  to  "  establish 
judgment  at  the  gate,"  64. 

Israelites  :  protected  against  Medes,Per- 
sians,  Midianites,  and  Assyrians, 
211  ;  reference  to,  216  ;  command  to, 
concerning  Asherah  and  pillar,  233  ; 
exhibiting  evidences  among,  249. 

Istar  of  Agade,  153.     See,  also,  Ishtar. 

Italy :  prominence  of  threshold  in  folk 
customs  of,  i7f. ;  corpse  not  to  pass 
main  door  of  house  in,  24. 

Ivory  hand  as  talisman  among  Jews  at 
Tunis,  79. 

Jacob  :  at  Bethel, 160  ;  and  Laban  agree- 
ing on  landmark,  171  ;  his  pillar, 
268  f. 

"  Jacob's  ladder  "  probably  stepped- 
temple  structure,  112. 

Jaffa,  sacrifices  of  sheep  at  beginning  of 
railroad  at,  56. 

"Janua,"  reference  to,  200. 

Janus,  Gate-god  of  Romans,  97. 

Japan  :  salt  sprinkled  on  threshold  in, 
20;  survival  of  foundation-laying 
in  blood  in,  51  f. ;  shimenawa  sus- 
pended above  door  in,  72  ;  gods  of 
Ni-o  guarding  threshold  in,  96  ; 
temples  of,  on  model  of  primeval 
huts,  101  ;  doorways  apart  from 
temples  in,  104  ;  pilgrims  at  thresh- 
old of  sacred  shrines  of,  125  ;  Shinto 
temples  of,  201 ;  reverence  for  phal- 
lic emblems  in,  230. 

Jastiow,  Prof.  Dr.  Morris,  Jr.:  cited,  97, 
144,  253. 

Jastrow,  Rev.  Dr.  Marcus,  testimony 
of,  212. 

Jehoash,  altar  at  threshold  in  days  of, 
121. 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


287 


Jehoiada  :  chest  for  offerings  placed  at 
temple  door  and  altar,  121 ;  his  as- 
signment of  priests  to  threshold,i20. 
Jennings,  Hargrave  :  cited,  230. 
Jeremiah,  references  to,  64,  213. 
Jericho  :  curse  of  Joshua  on  rebuilder 
of  walls  of,  46  {.;   walls  of,  falling 
down,  211. 
Jerome:  his  translation  of  saph,  207. 
Jerusalem  :  and  Jaffa  railroad,  sacrifice 
at  beginning  of,  57  ;  blood  placed  on 
lintel  of  temple  at,  67  ;  red  hand  in 
Jews'  quarter  of,  75  ;   waters  issu- 
ing from  under  threshold  of  temple 
at,  114  ;    altar  of  burnt  offering  at 
threshold  of  temple  at,    120 ;    tem- 
ple site  at,  161  ;  presence  of  Christ 
at,  215;   Church  of  Holy  Sepulcher 
at,  221. 
Jesus  :  reference  of,  to  door,  6,  to  gates 
of  Hades,  65;  the  Door,  104. 

Jews  :  red  hand  on  houses  of,  in  Jeru- 
salem, 76,  on  houses  at  Safed,  77  ; 
open  hand  found  over  graves  of,  in 
Europe,  79 ;  in  Morocco,  bloody 
hand  on  door-posts  among,  67  f. ; 
sign  of  hand  found  in  houses  of, 
76 ;  sacrifice  of  lamb  at  door  of 
new  house  of,  76  f. ;  in  Tunis,  bloody 
hand  among,  78  f. ;  hand  as  talisman 
against  evil  eye  among,  79  ;  rubbing 
fingers  on  synagogue  door-posts 
among,  144  ;  modern,  observing 
passover,  211  f. 

Jicarilla  Apaches  :  prominence  of  red 
hand  among,  87  ;  celebration  of  at- 
tainment to  puberty  among,  88-92. 

John  the  Baptist,  reference  to,  218  f. 

Jones  and  Kropf :  cited,  12,  18,  20  f., 
143;  quotation  from,  17. 

Jordan,  source  of,  at  threshold  of  grotto 
of  Pan,  115. 

Joshua  :  his  curse  on  rebuilder  of  Jeri- 
cho, 46  f.;  guardians  of  threshold  in 
days  of,  120. 

Journal  of  American  Folk-Lore,  refer- 
ences to,  5,  21. 

Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society, 
reference  to,  236. 

Joyner.     See  Von  L'oher  andjoyner. 

Judicial  oath,  uplifted  hand  in,  83. 

Julien,  Stanislas  :  cited,  156. 

"Jumping  the  broomstick,"  143. 

Juno, Virgil's  reference  to  brazen  thresh- 
old in  temple  of,  130. 

Jupiter,  priest  of,  at  Lystra,  134  f.;  ref- 
erence to  boundary  lines,  171  ; 
image  of,  as  boundary  mark,  172. 

Justice  sought  at  gate  :  among  Arabs,s7- 
59  ;  in  Arabia,  59  f. ;  in  Babylonia 
and  Elam,  60;  in  Egypt,  60  f.  ;  in 
India,  61  ;  in  Morocco,  62  f.  ;  among 
Israelites,  63  f.  ;  in  Turkey,  65. 

Justinian,  Emperor:  cited,  181. 


Ka,  or  soul,  of  dead,  offerings  to,  106. 
Ka'bah  in  mosk  at  Meccah,  163. 
Kadesh,  Egyptian  goddess,  234. 
Kadi,  reference  to,  247. 
Kamehameha,king  of  Sandwich  Islands, 

150. 
Kami,  gods  of  doorways,  104. 
Kardas  Sarks,  god   of   house,  prayer 

to,  44. 
Kathiawar,  human   sacrifice  at  thresh- 
old at,  61. 
Kauzeroon,  British  envoy  approaching, 

189. 
Keeper  of  gate,  honorable  position,  119  f. 
Kef  Miryam,  name  of  sign  of  hand,  77. 
Keightley,  Thomas,  references  to,  172, 

236. 
Keoroeva,  ancient  gods  of  Maui,  150. 
Ket,  uses  of  the  Egyptian  goddess,  234. 
Key,  uses  of  the  Hebrew  word  for,  253. 
Khaleefs  of  Bagdad,  threshold  custom 

of,  10. 
Khedive,  threshold  sacrifice  to  welcome 

new,  7. 
Khem,  god  of  generative  force,  234. 
Khonds  of  Orissa,  crossing  threshold  in 

wedding  among,  39. 
Khorsabad,    sanctity    of    doorway    in, 

108  f. 
Kid  :  outpoured  blood  of,  in  hospitality 
among  Arabs,   23  ;     sacrificed    on 
threshold  in  Syria,  26. 
King,  Capt.  J .  S. :  quotations  from,  27  f. ; 

cited,  196. 
King  :  human  sacrifice  to  welcome,  8  f.; 
and  priest,  offices  claimed  by  same 
person,  101  f. 
Kings  of  Scotland  crowned  on  Corona- 
tion Stone,  268. 
King's  highway,  176. 
Kissing :  threshold  in  Persia,  12  ;  doors 
among  Pythagoreans,  13  :  threshold 
among  Morlacchi  in  Dalmatia,  31  ; 
doorway  serpent  in  Yezidis'  temple, 
116;  threshold   of  mosk  in  Persia, 
123  f.;  threshold  of  gate  of  tomb  of 
Alee,   124  ;  threshold  of  ively,  129  ; 
threshold  and  door-posts  of  church 
in  Abyssinia,  130  f. 
"  Kissing  the  church  "  in  Abyssinia,i3i. 
Kitto,  John,  references  to,  120,  212. 
Kitzuki,  sacredness  of  threshold  among 

pilgrims  at,  125  f. 
Kiva  temples,  hand  on  walls  of,  92. 
Knight,  Richard  Payne  :  cited,  230. 
"  Kno\vledge,Tree  of,"  reference  to,  156. 
"  Knowledge,"  in  Bible  narrative,  238. 
Kohala,  temple  in,  150. 
Koner.     See  Guhl  and  Koner. 
Koran,     See  Quran. 
Korea  :  dead  taken  through  hole  in  city 
wall    in,    24;     marriage     covenant 
made  by  tracing  woman's  hand  on 
contract,  93 ;  doorways  apart  from 


2SS 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


temples  in,  104  ;  pilgrims  at  thresh- 
old in  sacred  shrines  of,  125. 

Kowalewsky,  M.  :  cited,  42. 

Krasnoslobodsk,  marriage  customs  in, 
249. 

Kropf,  Lewis  L.  :  cited,  12,  18,  20.  See, 
also,  Jones  and  Kropf. 

Kurigalza  II.,  king  of  Babylon,  154- 

Kuru-Kshetra,  holy  ground,  156. 

" Kuza  bemuchsaz  Kuzu" — name  of 
God,  70. 

Laban  and  Jacob  agreeing  about  land- 
mark, 171. 

Lachish,  Tellel-Hesy,  site  of  ancient,  58. 

Lacouperie,  Terrien  de  :  cited,  185,  231. 

Ladder,  Jacob's,  probably  stepped-tem- 
ple  structure,  112. 

"Lady  of  the  great  land,"  —  Beltis 
Allat,  113. 

Lakshmi,  wife  of  Vishnoo,  represented 
as  seated  on  serpent,  235. 

Lamb :  sacrificed  at  door  for  guest, 
in  Egypt,  4,  in  Syria,  4,  26;  out- 
poured blood  of,  in  hospitality 
among  Arabs,  23 ;  sacrificed  at 
foundation-laying  in  Greece,  53 ; 
buried  under  altar  in  first  Christian 
churches  in  Swedish  tradition,  56 ; 
sacrificed  on  Arab  joining  another 
tribe,  58  f.  ;  sacrificed  at  door  of 
new  house  of  Jew  or  Muhammadan 
in  Palestine,  76  f. 

Lamberton,  Prof.  W.  A. :  cited,  132, 134. 

Lamps  and  laurels  on  gates  in  Tertul- 
lian's  time,  97  f. 

Lanciani,  Dr.  Rodolfo  :  cited,  56,  257  f. 

Landmark  :  sacred  boundary  of  private, 
166;  local,  in  form  of  phallus,  166  ;  in 
Babylonia,  166  :  in  laws  of  Hebrews, 
169  ;  in  India,  169  ;  fixing  and  hon- 
oring of,  origin  of,  175. 

Landor,  A.  Henry  Savage-  :  cited,  24, 
94. 

Lane,  Edward  William :  cited,  26,  37, 
129,  245 ;  references  to,  123,  244. 

Lane-Poole,  Stanley  :  cited,  129,  200. 

Lantevit  Major  Church,  wedding  cus- 
toms at,  141. 

Lapland,  significance  of  stepping  over 
threshold  in,  12. 

Lares  and  Penates  in  Cicero's  time,  41. 

Latins,  marriage  custom  among,  29. 

Launching  custom  of  "christening" 
in  England  and  America,  8. 

Laurel :  wreaths  hung  in  doorway  at 
marriage  among  Romans,  73;  Chris- 
tians warned  against  placing,  on 
their  gates,  97. 

Laurie,  Dr.  Thomas  :  cited,  124. 

Law  of  doorway,  5-10. 

Laws  of  Manu,  reference  to,  6. 

Layard,  Sir  Austen  H.  :  cited,  68,  109, 
111,  190,  201,  234  f.  ;  his  discovery 


of  sculptured  image  of  Assyrian 
king,  115  f. 

"  Laying  on  of  hands,  the,"  as  symbol 
of  imparting  power,  85. 

Lazarus  at  gate  of  Dives,  64. 

Leaping  over  threshold,  117. 

Lebanon,  Mt.,  region  receiving  Euro- 
pean prince,  191. 

Legend  and  fact  as  contributors  to  proof 
of  custom  among  Orientals,  77. 

Legends  :  of  Dumuzi,  Tammuz,  Osiris, 
and  Adonis,  correspondences  in, 
115;  and  symbols  employed  con- 
cerning boundary  lines,  171  f. 

Leland,  Charles  Godfrey:  cited,  17  f., 

233- 

Lele,  name  for  altar,  150  f. 

Lemm,  Oscar  von  :  cited,  128. 

Lenormant,  Francois  :  cited,  109. 

Levites  and  priests  assigned  to  thresh- 
old and  foundation,  120. 

Levitical  laws  concerning  sacrifice  not 
made  at  "  door  of  tent  of  meeting," 
118  f. 

Levy,  Rabbi  Jacob  :  cited,  208. 

Libation  of  water  offered  on  threshold, 
16  {.,  29. 

Liberia :  fowl  sacrificed  to  welcome 
guest  in,  9 ;  nuptial  customs  of, 
196. 

Liberian  clergyman's  testimony  regard- 
ing threshold  custom,  39. 

Liddell  and  Scott :  cited,  208. 

Liebenstein,  castle  of,  made  fast  by 
burying  child,  49. 

Life  :  new,  outgrowth  of  truth  of  primal 
threshold  covenant,  226 ;  tree  of, 
symbol  of  feminine  nature,  230  ; 
goddess  of,  in  Egypt  and  Assyria, 

234- 

Lifting  bride  over  threshold :  among 
Towkas,  35  ;  in  Abyssinia,  Egypt, 
Syria,  38  ;  in  Greece,  Rome,  and 
West  Africa,  39  ;  in  Russia,  Eng- 
land, Scotland,  Ireland,  and  United 
States,  44  ;    in  Central  America,  45. 

Limen,  Jerome's  word  for  saph,  207. 

Limentinus,  threshold  god  of  Romans, 97. 

Lindisfarne  Abbey,  marriage  customs  at, 
141. 

Linga  in  yoni,  symbol  of  Siva's  wor- 
ship, 198,  236. 

Lintel  :  hand  in  dough  impressed  on,  in 
Upper  Syria,  28  f.  ;  smeared  with 
honey  and  water,  30  ;  blood  on,  66, 
68  ;  inscriptions  as  to  sacrednessof, 
66,  68  ;  blood  stains  above,  67  ; 
symbolic  figures  on,  70  ;  sentences 
written  on,  in  China,  71  ;  Romans 
affixing  spoils  of  battle  on,  73  ;  red 
hand  on,  74  ;  red  hand  on,  in  Baby- 
lonia, 75 ;  ornamentation  of,  in  an- 
cient Egypt,  100  ;  image  of  Horus 
on,   127  ;  kissed    by  pious  in  Abys- 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


189 


sinia,    131  ;     decorations     on,    and 

above.  146  ;  blood  on,  as  protection 

for  house,  206  ;  and  two  side-posts, 

God  passing  over,  210. 
Lithuania,  wooden  cross   placed  under 

threshold  in,  18. 
Littleton,  Sir  Thomas  :  cited,  140. 
London,   horseshoes    on    threshold    of 

houses  in  ancient,  74. 
Loong-moo,  sacrifice  of  fowl  in  honor  of 

divinity,  among  Chinese,  71  f. 
"  Lord  of  the  great  city,"  god  Nergal 

as,  113. 
Lot  welcoming  angels,  211. 
Lotus  flower  :    in  religious  symbolisms, 

230  ;    reference  to,  234 ;  symbol  of 

fecundity,  257. 
"  Louping  stone,"  142. 
Lowell,  Percival :  cited,  104,126,  201. 
Lubare,  offering  to,  in  Uganda,  15. 
Lubbock,  Sir  John  :  cited,  39. 
Luncz,  A.  M.,  quotations  from,  67,  76. 
Lund's  Every-day  Life  in  Scandinavia  : 

reference  to,  7,  12. 
Lystra,  temple  of  Jupiter  at,  reference 

to,  135. 

McDowell,  Henry  B.  :  cited,  96. 

McLennan,  Dr.  John  F.  :    cited,  39. 

Mackay.  Alexander  :  cited,  15. 

Mackenzie,  Capt.  J.  S.  F.,  quotation 
from,  258  f. 

Magoudi's  Les  Prairies  d'  Or,  reference 
to,  200. 

Madaa,  place  of  prayer,  164. 

Madagascar,  importance  of  right  foot 
in,  38  ;  circumcision  in,  149. 

Mafkat,  land  of,  184. 

Magharah,  Wady,  boundary  marks  in, 
179. 

Magyars :  stepping  over  threshold 
among.  12  ;  custom  to  win  love,  19  f. 

Mahabharata :  cited,  6  ;  on  responsi- 
bility of  heralds,  62  ;  Hindoo  epic, 

J57- 
Mai  occhis,  or  evil  eye,  79. 
Male  represented  by  stone  or  pole,  258. 
Man,  origin  and  development  of,  223. 
Manoli  in  "  Monastery  of  Argis,"  story 

of,  52  f. 
Mantra,  meaning  of  word,  15. 
Manu,  Laws  of,  reference  to,  6. 
Maras  kept  off  by  cross  on  threshold,  18. 
"  Marches,"  reference  to,  183. 
Marduk,  reference  to,  235. 
Margosa,  reference  to,  259. 
Margrave,  origin  of,  183. 
Mariette  Bey,  references  to,  in,  126, 128. 
Market-places  as  boundaries.  178. 
"  Markgraf,"  meaning  of,  183. 
"Marks,"  reference  to,  183. 
Marquardt,  Joachim  :   cited,  30,  39,  41. 
"  Marque,  Letters  of,"  meaning  of,  183. 
"  Marquee,"  meaning  of,  183. 


Marquises,  origin  of,  183. 
Marriage :  threshold  covenanting  in, 
25-35  !  by  outpoured  blood  at  thresh- 
old, 26  ;  customs  among  Somalis  in 
Central  Africa,  27,  among  Walla- 
chians,  29,  in  Egypt,  243,  245,  in 
China,  Dahomey,  245,  in  Syria,  246, 
in  Asia  and  Africa,  in  Krasnoslo- 
bodsk,  among  Mordvins,  in  Pensa, 
249,  in  Samoa,  251  ;  not  "  by  cap- 
ture," 36;  celebrated  at  church  door 
in  Abyssinia,  131 ;  where  solem- 
nized, 138  ;  Pre-Reformation  rule  of, 
139  ;  services  in  Protestant  Epis- 
copal churches,  148  ;  covenant, 
primitive  certificate  of,  196 ;  primi- 
tive rite  of,  214,  225  ;  sacrament  of, 
in  Roman  Catholic  Church,  222; 
torch,  origin  of,  226 ;  certificate  in 
Syria,  245,  in  Upper  Egypt,  245; 
ceremonies  among  Muhammedans, 
247  ;  ceremonies  among  Christians 
at  Haleb,  248  ;  ceremonies  in  Dar- 
four,  249.  See,  also,  Wedding  cere- 
monies. 

"Mary's  Hand,  Virgin,"  among  Chris- 
tians of  Syria,  77. 

Masjid  :  bridegroom's  visit  to,  in  Cen- 
tral Africa,  27  ;  place  of  prostration, 
163. 

Mask  marked  with  hand  among  Jicanlla 
Apaches,  89. 

Mason,  William  Shaw  :  cited,  21,  81. 

"  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,"  182. 

Maspero,  Prof.  G. :  cited,  14,  39,  85  ; 
references  to,  95,  102,  105  f.,  113  f., 
126,  160,  201,  235. 

Massachusetts,  beating  bounds  in,  176. 

Mastabahs,  false  doors  in  ancient  Egypt, 
106  f. 

Matthews,  Washington,  reference  to,  87. 

Maundrell,  Henry,  reference  to,  222. 

Maui,  Island  of,  ancient  god  of,  150. 

Maurice,  Thomas :  cited,  122  ;  refer- 
ences to,  123,  236  f. 

Maya  people,  sacrifices  among,  145. 

Meccah  :  black  stone  of,  reference  to, 
10;  prayer  niche  toward,  108  ;  mosk 
of,  image  thrown  down  at  gate  of, 
123 ;  mosk  at,  reference  to,  163  ; 
Hajj  procession  from,  186. 

Medals  showing  altar  at  threshold,  121. 

Medicine  taken  on  threshold  in  Tuscany, 
17  f. 

Medina,  mosk  of,  pieces  of  idol  thrown 
down  at  gate  of,  123. 

Mediterranean,  boundary  marks  on 
shores  of,  178. 

Medusa  and  serpents,  237. 

Memorials  in  door  form,  in  various  lands, 
107. 

Mercury :  reference  to,  concerning 
boundary  lines,  171 ;  image  of,  as 
boundary  landmark,  172. 


19 


290 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


Merodach  :  god  of  left  side  of  gate,  95  ; 
temple  of,  threshold  plated  with 
gold,  no. 

Metawileh,  hen  sacrificed  at  building  of 

house  among,  45. 
Metempsychosis  connected  with  thresh- 
old covenant,  226. 

Mexico  :  Indians  of  ancient,  reference 
to,  21  ;  sacrificial  stone  of  temple  of, 
56  ;  ancient,  altar  in  doorway,  108  ; 
earliest  form  of  temple  in,  144 ;  re- 
ligions of,  and  serpent  as  symbol, 
235- 

Meydoom,  stepped  pyramid  of,  in 
Egypt,  126. 

"  Mezuza,"  covenant  record  at  door- 
way, 69  f. 

Middle  Empire  of  Egypt :  disappear- 
ance of  door  form  in,  106  ;  temples 
of,  155. 

"  Midsummer  Day"  festival  in  Russia, 
42. 

"  Mihrab,"  or  prayer  niche,  probable 
origin  of  its  form,  108. 

Mile-posts  as  landmarks,  176. 

Min,  Egyptian  god  of  generative  force, 
234. 

Mineptah  I.,  memorial  stone  of,  180. 

Minnesota,  threshold  custom  among 
Scandinavians  in,  259. 

Mississippi,  lower,  religious  ceremonies 
among  Indians  along,  147. 

"  Mizpah,"  memorial  of  covenant,  171. 

Mnesikles,  architect,  plan  of,  158. 

Moksha,  wooing  custom  among,  42. 

"  Monastery  of  Argis,"  foundation  sacri- 
fice in,  52  f. 

Monier-Williams.SirMonier :  cited,  156, 
198  f.,  230,  236. 

Monoliths  in  front  of  door  of  temple  at 
Yeha,  131. 

Montezuma  :  his  consecration  of  altar 
by  blood  of  captives,  56. 

Moon-god  Sin,  Ur-Gur  with  uplifted 
hands  before,  80  ;  reference  to,  161. 

Mordevins.     See  Mordvins. 

Mordvins  :  threshold  as  altar  among, 
32  ;  marriage  customs  of,  41,  249. 

Morea,  threshold  custom  in,  30. 

Morier,  James  :    cited,   n   f.,  78,  123  ; 


quotation  from,  189  f. 

of  ki 
3i- 


Morlacchi  custom 


ssing  threshold, 


Morocco,  survival  of  sacrificing  at  door- 
way in,  62. 

Mosaic  law,  appeal  to  altar  in  covenant 
in,  65. 

Moses  :  at  gate  of  camp,  63  ;  meeting 
Jehovah  at  doorway,  119  ;  in  wilder- 
ness of  Sinai,  160  f. 

"  Moses,  Hand  of,"  red  hand  called,  77. 

Mosk  of  St.  Sophia,  stamp  of  red  hand 
in,  77. 

Mostur,  temple  of  Thor  in,  160. 


Mt.  Lebanon  region,  European  prince 
received  in,  191. 

Mt.  Moriah  :  temple  on,  reference  to, 
161  ;  and  Abraham's  offering,  161. 

Mt.  Sinai,  reference  to,  94. 

Mountain  peaks  as  boundaries,  178. 

Muhammad :  certificate  of  protection 
signed  with  impression  of  open  hand 
of,  94 ;  throne  of,  reached  only  by 
kissing  threshold,  124. 

Muhammad  II.  :  his  victory  over  Chris- 
tians sealed  by  bloody  hand,  77. 

Muhammad  Issoof,  letter  from  king  of 
Mysore  to,  94. 

Muhammadan  :  substitute  for  "  blood  of 
the  grape,"  5;  conquest  of  India, 
reference  to,  123. 

Muhammadans  :  to  place  right  foot  first 
in  crossing  threshold,  36 ;  inscribe 
gates,  fountains,  bridges,  and 
houses,  70 ;  sacred  inscriptions 
placed  above  doorways  by,  71  ;  sign 
of  hand  among,  76  ;  lamb  sacrificed 
at  door  of  new  house  of,  76  f. ; 
"  Hand  of  the  Prophet  "  on  nouses 
of,  77;  sultan  as  father  of  faithful, 
103 ;  prayer  niche  among,  108 ; 
treading  on  idol  at  gate,  123  ;  thresh- 
old of  mosks  counted  sacred  among, 
123 ;  their  estimate  of  first  founda- 
tions, 162  ;  marriage  customs  of, 
247 ;  reticent  on  matters  concern- 
ing women,  247  f. 

Muir,  Sir  William,  reference  to,  164. 

MUlhau  and  Volck,  reference  to,  255. 

Miiller,  Ivan  V..  reference  to,  172. 

Miiller,  Prof.  W.  Max  :  cited,  127,  234. 

Muslims.     See  Muham?nadatis. 

Mussulmans.    See  Muhammadans. 

Mysore :  king  of,  hand-print  on  back  of 
letter  written  by,  94 ;  ancient  reli- 
gious custom  at,  258. 

Mysoreans,  hand-print  equivalent  to 
oath  among,  94. 

Naaman,  reference  to,  161. 

Nabob  of  Arcot,  banners  of,  inscribed 

with  hand,  78. 
Nabonidus,  king  of  Babylon,  153. 
Nabuna'id,  king  of  Babylon,  154. 
Nahr-el-Kelb,   as  gateway  of  nations, 

105;  boundary  marks  at,  178. 
Nahuas,  marriage  ceremonies  of,  246. 
Nakishbend,   tomb  of,  threshold   stone 

at,  124  f. 
Naomi,  reference  to,  64. 
Napier,  James  :  cited,  44. 
Naples,   pine    cone    among  Pompeian 

relics  at,  257. 
Naram-Sin,  reference  to,  154. 
Nasa,  meaning  of  Hebrew  word,  83. 
Natchez   Indians,  religious  ceremonies 

among,  147. 
Nations  or  states,  boundaries  of,  177. 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


291 


Neapolitan  Museum,  information  con- 
cerning threshold  at,  258. 

Nebo  :  shrine  of,  no  ;  references  to,  177, 
188. 

Nebuchadrezzar  I.  :  meaning  of  name, 
177  ;  his  empire  boundary,  188. 

Nebuchadrezzar  II.:  inscriptions  of, 
109 ;  his  description  of  building 
•walls  of  Babylon,  109-111 ;  refer- 
ence to,  154. 

Negeb  :  reference  to,  160  ;  boundary  dis- 
pute on  borders  of,  170. 

Neoptolemus  and  Orestes  in  temple  at 
Delphi,  134. 

Nephthys,  guardian  of  gateway  of 
Egyptian  temple,  127. 

Nergal,  threshold  god  among  Assyrians, 
95,  113,  235. 

Nestorians  kissing  threshold  on  enter- 
ing church,  124. 

Nevius,  Rev.  J.  W.  :  cited,  24. 

New  Empire  of  Egypt :  religious  pictures 
on  stele  in  tombs  of,  107  ;  buildings 
of,  155- 

New  England  :  door  at  corner  of  house 
in,  55 ;  "  beating  the  bounds"  in, 
176. 

"  New  Fire,  Festival  of,"  147. 

New  Testament,  symbols  of  Old  Testa- 
ment explained  in,  215. 

New  Year  :  threshold  custom  in  Aber- 
deenshire, 20  f.;  of  Hebrews,  212; 
Easter  beginning  new  Ecclesiasti- 
cal, 221. 

New  Zealand,  sacred  image  as  gate- 
way in,  107  f. 

Niche  :  as  shrine  in  Egypt,  106  ;  survival 
of  tomb  doorways,  108  ;  prominence 
of,  in  Egypt,  106  f.,  in  New  Zealand, 
107 f.,  in  Muhammadan  and  Chris- 
tian lands  and  in  China,  108. 

Niebuhr,  C:  cited,  248. 

Nikko,  shrines  of,  126. 

Nile,  Gen,  Grant  on  Upper,  7  f. 

Nimb  tree,  reference  to,  259. 

Nimitti-Bel,  gate  of,  in  walls  of  Baby- 
lon, no. 

Nimroud,  blood-stained  slabs  at  en- 
trance to  palace  of,  68. 

Nineveh  :  sanctity  of  doorway  in,  108  f. ; 
sculpture  of  Assyrian  king  with  up- 
lifted arm  found  at,  115. 

Ni-o,  prints  of  gods  placed  over  doors 
in  Japan,  95. 

Nippur  :  sanctity  of  doorway  in,  108  f.; 
altar  found  between  temples  in,  in. 

Nish,  Assyrian  word  for  swearing,  83. 

Noetling,  Dr.,  reference  to,  77. 

Northly,  Hen.,  reference  to,  140. 

Norway,  Thorolf  of,  removing  to  Ice- 
land, 160. 

"  Not  by  door,"  entering  house,  6. 

Notre  Dame,  marriage  at  door  of  church 
of,  130. 


November  n  as  sacrifice  day  in  Ire- 
land, 21. 

Nubia :  ancient  map  of  gold  districts 
in,  180;   reference  to,  185. 

Numa,  directions  of,  concerning  boun- 
daries, 173. 

Nuptial  torch  in  marriage  ceremony,  41. 

N  urshi van  and  Hormuz,  reference  to,i  1 . 

Nuts  presented  to  bride  at  threshold  in 
Dalmatia,  31. 

Oath,  uplifted  hand  in  judicial,  83. 

Obelisk,  symbol  of  Baal,  214. 

Oberea,  queen  of  Otaheite,  250  f. 

Offerings:  at  threshold,  28,  118 f. ;  to 
local  divinity  at  threshold-laying, 
95 ;  for  dead  pictured  on  stele  of 
Middle  Empire  of  Egypt,  106. 

Ohel,  applied  to  private  tent  and  to 
sacred  tabernacle,  101. 

Ohnefalach-Richter,  reference  to,  231. 

Old  Empire  of  Egypt :  false  door  in  early 
tombs  of,  106  ;  temples  of,  155. 

Old  Testament  and  New  :  waters  of  life 
in,  115  ;  rites  and  symbols  of,  215. 

Oldest  member  of  household  first  to 
enter  new  house,  54. 

Olympian  games,  references  to,  7,  263. 

Olympus,  House  of  Zeus,  132. 

Om  mani  padvie  Hum,  199. 

Omaha  chief,  burial  of,  85  f. 

Ophites,  teaching  of,  239. 

Oracle  at  Delphi,  236. 

Oran  buried  alive  in  foundation  of  cathe- 
dral in  Iona,  50. 

Orestes  and  Neoptolemus  at  Delphi,  134. 

Oriental  :  sovereigns  and  boundaries, 
177;  Christians,  covenanting  at 
threshold  among,  221  ;  figures  of 
speech  obscured  by  literalism  of 
Western  mind,  238. 

Orissa,  importance  of  threshold  in  mar- 
riage in,  39. 

Orme,  R.  :  cited,  94. 

Osiris  :  annual  feast  in  honor  of,  14  f.  ; 
references  to,  106,  115,  128  f.,  179; 
door  of  gateway,  127. 

"Ostium"  defined,  200. 

Otaheite,  primitive  threshold  in,  250. 

Ovid:  cited,  172  f. 

Owens,  J.  G.  :  cited,  21. 

Oxford,  Penn.,  stone  landmark  at,  183. 

Palestine  :  spilling  water  on  threshold 
in,  29 ;  sacrifice  at  beginning  rail- 
road in,  57 ;  blood  on  lintel,  67  ; 
red  hand  in,  75 ;  hand  printed  in 
blue  in  houses  of,  76. 

Palgrave,  William  G.  :  cited,  10. 

Palm  cone,  symbolism  of,  231. 

Palmer,  Prof.  E.  H.,  quotation  from,  26. 

Pan,  threshold  of  grotto  of,  115. 

Pan-kang.  emperor  of  China,  reference 
to,  157. 


292 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


Paper  sprinkled  with  blood  in  China,  72. 

"  Parting-stool,"  reference  to,  142. 

Pdsakha,  meaning  of,  208,  210,  266. 

Paul :  with  Barnabas  at  Lystra,  135  ; 
his  reference  to  foundations,  162  ; 
to  Corinthian  Christians,  215  ;  on 
Christian  passover,  217  ;  on  relation 
between  Christ  and  his  church,  219. 

Pausanias :  cited,  135. 

Pecos,  red-hand  symbol  in  ancient 
Pueblos  of,  87  f. 

Peepul  tree,  in  Upper  India,  156,  259. 

Peloponnesus  and  Attica,  boundary  be- 
tween, 180. 

Penates :  reference  to,  19  ;  of  Romans  at 
threshold,  23 ;  appeased  by  bread 
and  salt,  32  ;  and  Lares  in  Cicero's 
time,  41. 

Pennsylvania  :  threshold  custom  in, 
21  ;  corner-stone  at  door  in,  55 ; 
houseshoes  as  doorway  guards  in, 
74  ;  stone  landmark  in,  183. 

Pennsylvania  Magazine  of  History, 
reference  to,  183. 

Pensa,  marriage  customs  in,  249. 

"Per-ao"  (Pharaoh),  meaning  of.  103. 

Pericles  building  new  Propylaea,  158. 

Perrot  and  Chipiez :  cited,  71,  78,  80, 
85, 100,  103,  105,  in,  201,  231,  235; 
quotation  from,  106  f. 

Persea,  reference  to,  180. 

Persepolis,  justice  at  palace  gate  of,  60. 

Persia  :  sacredness  of  threshold  in,  11  f. ; 
sacred  passages  inscribed  over  door- 
ways in,  71  ;  banners  and  prayer- 
rugs  inscribed  with  open  hand  in, 
78  ;  no  temples  in  ancient,  100 ;  fire- 
altar  on  uplifted  threshold  as  place 
of  worship  in,  100,  102 ;  veneration 
for  threshold  of  mosks  in,  i23f.  ;  bor- 
der sacrifices  in,  188 ;  shah  of,  en- 
tering Teheran,  189 ;  reverence  for 
phallic  emblems  in,  230  ;  marriage 
customs  in,  249 ;  phallus  repre- 
sented by  boundary  posts,  258. 

Peru :  blood  smeared  on  doorway  in, 
73  ;  stepped  pyramid  temples  in, 
in  ;  religions  of,  and  serpent  as 
symbol,  235. 

Pesakh.    See  Pdsakk. 

Petrie,  Dr.  W.  M.  Flinders  :  his  dis- 
covery of  ornamental  door-jams, 
58  ;  reference  to,  126. 

"  Petting  stone,"  at  Lindisfarne  Abbey, 
141. 

Phallus,  reverence  for,  in  Babylonia, 
Assyria,  India,  China,  Japan,  Per- 
sia, Phrygia,  Phenicia,  Egypt, 
Abyssinia,  Greece,  Rome,  Ger- 
many, Scandinavia,  France,  Spain, 
Great  Britain,  North  and  South 
America,  Islands  of  the  Sea,  230. 

"  Pharaoh,"  meaning  of,  103. 

Phenicia  :   uplifted  hand  of  deities  of, 


79  f.;  prominence  of  door  in,  107; 
altar  at  threshold  in,  121 ;  indica- 
tions of  presence  of  deity  in,  201  ; 
reverence  for  phallic  emblems  in, 
230  ;  religions  of,  and  serpent  as 
symbol,  235  ;  pine  cone  symbol  in, 
.  257- 

Philip  II.  of  Spain,  reference  to,  139. 

Philistines,  sacredness  of  threshold 
among,  11  f. 

Philo  Judseus:  cited,  208,  238;  refer- 
ence to,  239. 

Philos,  Phleo,  and  Phlie,  meanings 
and  uses  of,  255  f. 

Phoebus  Apollo,  reference  to,  133. 

Phrygia  :  threshold  altar  in,  121  ; 
reverence  for  phallic  emblems  in, 
230. 

Pig :  sacrifice  of  black,  in  Russia,  19  ; 
blood  of,  sprinkled  at  door  in 
Borneo,  20;  buried  alive  under 
houses,  56  ;  as  sacrifice,  148. 

Pigeon-poult's  blood  in  Arabia,  248. 

Pigeons  sacrificed  at  door,  4. 

Pilgrims  at  threshold  in  Japan,  in 
Korea,  in  Shinto  and  Booddhist 
temple,  125. 

Pillar  :  of  cloud  at  doorway  of  tent  of 
meeting,  119 ;  of  Baal,  214 ;  and 
tree  in  religious  symbolism,  232  ; 
command  to  Israelites  concerning, 

233- 

"Pillars  of  Herculus,"  181. 

Pine  cone :  in  ancient  Assyrian  sculp- 
tures, in  Grecian  and  Phenician 
cults,  and  in  ancient  Rome,  257. 

Pinkerton,  John  :  cited,  39. 

Pipal  tree.     See  Peepul  tree. 

Pipiles,  sacrifices  among,  146. 

"  Plain  of  Kuru,"  156. 

Pliny,  reference  to,  93. 

Ploss,  H.,  reference  to,  93. 

Plutarch  :  cited,  25,  39,  41,  180  f,  263, 
265. 

Pole,  brush-topped,  symbolism  of,  214, 
258. 

Polynesia  :  survival  of  foundation-laying 
in  blood  in,  51  f.  ;  uplifted  hand 
found  in  stepped-pyramid  temples 
of,  83  ;  boundary  lines  in,  174. 

Pomegranate :  on  threshold  in  Morea, 
30,  in  Rhodes,  30  f.  ;  in  religious 
symbolisms,  230. 

Pompeian  relics  at  Naples,  257. 

Ponce  de  Leon  and  fountain  of  life,  148. 

Poole.     See  Lane-Poole. 

Poros,  derivation  of,  265. 

Porta  and  Porto,  derivation  of,  265. 

Porta  di  morti  in  Italian  houses  for 
corpse,  24. 

Porter,  Sir  Robert  Kerr  :  cited,  9,  71. 

Porter,  twofold  use  of  word,  263-265. 

Portuguese  navigators  and  boundary 
pillars,  180  f. 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


293 


Postliminium,  a  recrossing  of  threshold, 

181. 
Pbth :   uses  of  Hebrew  word,  253 ;  as 

hinge  or  socket,  254. 
Prabhus  of  Bombay,  birth  custom  among, 

l7- 

Prague,   open   hand   above  graves   in, 

79. 

Prayer :  on  burying  articles  under  thresh- 
old, 20 ;  offered  to  "  goddess  of 
the  homestead  "  in  betrothal  in  Rus- 
sia, 32  ;  for  dead  at  door  of  Egyptian 
tombs,  106  ;  Booddhist  in  Tibet,  199  ; 
meaning  of,  228. 

Prayer-rug  in  Turkey  and  Persia,  78. 

Priest :  house-father  as  earliest,  3  ;  among 
Jicarilla  Apaches,  89  ;  as  ruler,  165  ; 
of  Dagon  not  to  tread  on  threshold, 
117. 

Primitive  :  altar  of  family,  3  ;  threshold 
customs,  35  ;  temple  as  rude  door- 
way, 102  ;  man  and  his  knowledge, 
224. 

Prisse's  Monuments  of  Egypt,  reference 
to,  234. 

Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Biblical 
Archaeology,  references  to,  201,  231, 
257. 

Propylon :  of  Egyptian  temple,  127 ; 
of  Greek  temple  on  Acropolis,  158. 

P'rosdor,  rabbinical  meaning  of,  253. 

Prostitution,  sacred,  origin  of,  229. 

Prostrating :  at  gate  of  palace  in  Bag- 
dad, 10 ;  at  threshold  of  shrines  of 
Egypt,  127  f. 

Protection  :  for  enemy  at  home  sanctu- 
ary, 57 ;  at  threshold  among  Af- 
ghans, 58. 

Protestant  Episcopal  churches:  baptis- 
mal font  in,  147 ;  marriage  cere- 
monies in,  148 

Psalmist :  his  reference  to  lifting  up 
hand,  82  ;  to  honorable  position  of 
doorkeeper,  120. 

Puberty  celebrated  among  Jicarilla 
Apaches,  88-91. 

Pueblos :  prominence  of  red  hand 
among,  87  ;  references  to,  88,  92. 

Puhonuas,  cities  of  refuge  in  Hawaii, 
151. 

Purity  of  primitive  threshold  covenant, 
233. 

"  Put  your  right  foot  first,"  37  f. 

Puthmen,  meanings  and  uses  of,  255. 

Pylon.     See  Propylon. 

Pyramid,  stepped  :  many  early  temples 
in  form  of,  83,  m  ;  of  Meydoom, 
126  ;  references  to,  144,  148,  229. 

Pythagoras  :   cited,  37. 

Pythagoreans,  reverence  for  threshold 
among,  12  f. 

Quarrels  as  result  of  shaking  hands 
over  threshold  in  Finland,  12. 


Quarterly  Statement  of  Palestine  Ex- 
ploration Fund,  reference  to,  29. 

Queen  of  Heaven,  statue  of,  in  Carthage, 
130. 

Quran,  sentences  from  :  on  gates,  foun- 
tains, bridges,  and  houses,  70  ;  on 
houses  of  worship,  163. 

Rahab,  blood-colored  thread  on  house 
of,  211. 

Raja  Pasupati,  reference  to,  157. 

Ralston,  W.  R.  S.:  cited,  12,  19,  24,  32, 
54  f.;  quotation  from,  23. 

Rameses  II.,  reference  to,  180. 

Ram's  horn  on  door-post  in  Tell-el- 
Hesy,  58. 

Ramsay,  Prof.  W.  M.  :  cited.  229. 

Rawlinson,  George  :  cited,  14,  105,  in  f. 

Rawlinson,  Sir  Henry  C. :  cited,  no, 
*53>  17^»  J84>  234 ;  quotation  from, 
167-169. 

Recognition,  Mount  of,  reference  to,  164. 

Records,  Book  of,  or  Shoo  King,  refer- 
ence to,  158. 

Red  cloth  on  altar  at  marriage,  34. 

Red  hand:  as  sign  of  covenant,  74  f.; 
in  Morocco,  74 ;  in  Palestine,  74-76  ; 
in  Turkey,  74,  77 ;  in  Babylonia, 
75 ;  on  lintel,  75 ;  Aryan  origin  of, 
75 ;  among  Separdeem,  76  ;  in  Mosk 
of  St.  Sophia,  77  ;  in  Central  Amer- 
ica, 81  f. ;  among  aborigines  of 
America,  83 ;  among  Dacotahs, 
Winnebagoes,  84  ;  among  Omahas, 
85 ;  among  Ioways,  Sauks,  Foxes, 
Sioux,  Arickarees,  Cheyennes,  Ara- 
pahoes,  Comanches,  Apaches,  Jica- 
rillas,  and  Pueblos,  87  ;  among 
Pecos,  87  f. ;  among  cliff-dwellers 
of  Chelly  Canyon,  87.  See,  also, 
Bloody  hand. 

Red  seal  on  documents,  probable  mean- 
ing of,  94. 

Redwan,  village  of,  190. 

Refuge,  cities  of,  151. 

Remondino,  Dr.  P.  C.  :  cited,  196. 

Renouf,  Le  Page:  cited,  128  f.,  257.* 

Rere,  name  for  altar,  150  f. 

Reville,  Albert :  cited,   73,  III,  144  *"•« 

235- 

Rhodes,  doorway  marked  with  honey 
in,  30. 

Rice  :  as  offering  among  Hindoos,  15  ; 
on  heads  of  bridal  couple  among 
Hindoos,  36  ;  presented  to  bride  in 
China,  40 ;  as  offering  at  threshold 
in  Japan,  125  f. 

Richon's  Die.  of  Bib.  Antiq.,  reference 
to,  103. 

Rig  Veda  :  reference  to,  157  :  on  pro- 
duction of  sacred  fire,  198. 

Right  foot  first  to  cross  threshold  of 
mosk,  123. 

Rio  de  Padrao,  or  Pillar  River,  182. 


294 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


Rites :  religious,  beginning  of,  36,  199, 
225  ;  and  symbols  of  New  Testa- 
ment, 215. 

Ritual  of  Old  and  New  Testament,  basis 
of,  228. 

Rituals,  ecclesiastical,  origin  of,  226. 

River  of  Threshold,  182. 

Roberts,  Joseph  :  cited,  95,  122. 

Robes  stamped  with  red  hand  among 
American  Indians,  83. 

Rocky  Pytho,  reference  to,  133. 

Rod  at  door,  stepping  over,  123. 

Rodd,  Rennell :  cited,  27,  30  f.,  38 ; 
quotation  from,  52  f. 

Roman  :  Penates  at  threshold  or  hearth, 
23 ;  architect  on  proportions  of 
temple,  36 ;  custom  of  placing 
statues  under  foundations,  55  f. ; 
custom  of  affixing  spoils  and  tro- 
phies of  war  to  lintels,  73  ;  temples, 
position  of  altar  in,  134 ;  empire, 
mile-posts  in,  176 ;  empire,  threshold 
of,  258. 

Roman  Catholic  Church  on  marriage, 
222. 

Roman  Catholic  churches,  holy  water 
in,  in  America,  147. 

Rome:  lifting  bride  over  threshold  in, 
39 ;  bride  worshiping  at  altar-fire  in, 
41  ;  images  under  foundations  in, 
55  f- :  "gods  of  entrances"  in,  97; 
reference  to  religion  of,  97 ;  rever- 
ence for  phallic  emblems  in,  230; 
pine  cone  found  in,  257 ;  cere- 
monies at  founding  of,  264  f. 

Romulus,  founder  of  Rome,  264  f. 

Rongo,  first-born  son  of  Vatea  and 
Papa,  reference  to,  152. 

Roscommon,  county  of,  Druidical  altar 
in,  81. 

Rosenmiiller,  Ernst  F.  K.  :  cited,  78. 

Roumania,  bat  and  coin  under  thresh- 
old in,  20. 

Rous's  Archaeologia  Attica,  reference 
to,  39. 

Rubbing  foreheads  on  "  stone  of  desire  " 
at  Baveddeen, 125. 

Russia :  welcoming  guest  with  bread 
and  salt  in,  9  ;  reverence  for  thresh- 
old in,  12 ;  threshold  observances 
in,  18,  31  f.  ;  stillborn  children  buried 
under  threshold  in,  18 ;  sacrifice  to 
"Vodyaour"  in,  19;  household 
deity  abiding  behind  stove  in,  23  ; 
concerning  dead  and  threshold  in, 
24  ;  marriage  custom  among  Mord- 
vins  in,  41 ;  crossing  altar-fire  in, 42  ; 
death  following  building  of  new 
house  in,  54 ;  "upper  corner"  of 
house  sacred  in,  54  f.  ;  disputed 
boundary  lines  in,  175. 

Ruth,  reference  to,  64. 

Ruthennu,  land  of  the,  reference  to, 
180. 


"Sa,  the  imposition  of  the,"  representa- 
tions on  monuments  of,  85. 

Sacrament  of  marriage  in  Greek  and 
Roman  Catholic  churches,  222. 

Sacramental  communion  feasts,  226. 

Sacred  corner  of  building  in  Russia,  54  f. 

Sacredness  :  of  threshold  among  Scandi- 
navians, 6  f .  ;  of  city  gates  among 
Greeks,  7  ;  among  Hindoos.  11 ;  of 
boundary  landmark  in  classic  litera- 
ture, 17;  of  threshold  recognized  in 
architecture  and  ceremonial,  22, 102  ; 
among  Muhammadans,  123 ;  in 
Persia,  123  f .  ;  in  Japan,  124  f . ;  in 
Babylonia  and  in  Egypt,  126  f.  ;  of 
doorway  above  threshold  in  Baby- 
lonia and  Egypt,  126  f. 

Sacrifice  :  for  family  first  made  in  home, 
3  f.  ;  in  Syria,  3-5,  at  threshold  in 
EgyP1*  3»  7  f-»  m  Africa,  9,  27  f., 
among  Arabs,  9,  26,  59  ;  among 
Pipiles,  144  ;  in  Mexico  and  Ireland, 
21 ;  in  Morocco,  63  ;  at  door,  of 
heifer,  4,  pigeons,  4,  horse,  4f. ;  bul- 
lock, 4,  7  f.,  sheep,  4,  7-9,  11,  21,  23, 
26  f.,  45,  53,  58  f.,  63,  76  f.,  fowl,  4, 
9,  21,  27,  45,  53-56,  71  {.,  goat,  4, 
27f.,  45,  59,  buffaloes, 7,  human,  8  f., 
46-48,  50-54,  56,  122  f.,  125,  144  f., 
pig,  14,  19,  148,  cow,  goose,  21 ; 
of  salt  in  Japan,  26  ;  at  threshold  to 
reconcile  enemies,  59 ;  altar  of,  loca- 
tion of,  134  ;  offered  at  boundary  of 
empire,  183  ;  origin  of,  228. 

Sacrificial  rules  of  ancient  Hindoos  on 
stepping  over  threshold,  36  f. 

Safed,  sign  of  hand  in  houses  at,  77. 

Sailer,  Dr.  T.  H.  P.  :  cited,  266. 

St.  Catharine,  convent  of,  reference  to, 
04. 

St.  Columba,  human  sacrifice  in  walls 
of  cathedral  of,  50. 

St.  Eric,  tomb  of,  reference  to,  140. 

St.  John,  Spencer  :   cited,  20,  34. 

St.  John's  College,  reference  to,  48. 

St.  Sophia,  mosk  of,  stamp  of  red  hand 

.  in'  77- 

Saint's  tomb  as  place  of  worship  in 
Egypt.  129. 

Saivism,  or  Sivaism,  predominating  in 
modern  Hindooism,  198. 

Sakya  Sinha,  attaining  to  Booddha- 
hood,  156. 

Sale,  G.  :  cited,  164. 

Salt :  as  substitute  for  blood,  5,  20  ;  on 
threshold  in  Syrias  5,  in  Japan,  20  ; 
stepping  over,  5  ;  and  bread  to  wel- 
come guest  in  Russia,  9,  among 
Arabs,  22,  among  Erza,  43  f.  ;  and 
fire  in  Scotland,  21  ;  carried  into 
new  home  in  Pennsylvania,  21; 
under  threshold  in  Russia,  32  f. 

Samoa ;  spilling  water  on  doorstep  in, 
12;    nuptial  customs  of,  196,  251; 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


295 


boundary  lines  in,   174 ;    father  as 
primitive  priest  in,  101. 
Samson  carrying  off  gates  of  Gaza,  255. 
Sandwich  Islands,  temples  in,  150. 

Saph,  meaning  of,  205,  207  f. 

Sarcophagi  of  Byzantine  age  showing 
altar  on  threshold,  121. 

Sardinia,  prominence  of  door  in,  107. 

Sargon  I.,  reference  to,  154. 

Sauks.  red  hand  among,  87. 

Savage- Landor,  A.  Henry.  SeeLandor. 

Sayce,  Prof.  A.  H.:  cited,  8,  80,  m, 
113, 169,  201,  235. 

Scandinavia  :  sacredness  of  door  in, 
6f.;  reverence  for  phallic  emblems 
in,  230. 

Scandinavians  in  America,  importance 
of  threshold  among,  259. 

Schoolcraft,  Dr.  Henry  R.  :  quotation 
from,  83  f. ;  reference  to,  87. 

Schrader,  Dr.  Eberhard  :  cited,  103, 
177  f.,  234. 

Scotland  :  treading  upon  boundary 
lines  in,  13;  New  Year's  threshold 
custom  in,  20  f. ;  sacredness  of 
threshold  in,  34;  lifting  bride  over 
threshold  in,  44  ;  crowning  of  kings 
of,  268. 

Scott,  Robert.     See  Liddell  and  Scott. 

Scottish  legend  of  burying  of  human  be- 
ing in  walls  of  cathedral,  50. 

Sculpture  :  on  lintel  in  Palestine,  70 . 
palm  cone  in  Assyrian,  231  ;  pine 
cone  in  Assyrian,  257. 

Scutari,  woman  immured  in  walls  of, 
47  f- 

Sea  Dyaks,  marriage  custom  among,  34. 

Sea,  Islands  of:  spring  of  life-giving 
waters  in,  151 ;  reverence  for  phallic 
emblems  in,  230. 

Seashore  as  boundary,  178. 

Seaweed  laid  on  threshold  in  Aberdeen- 
shire, 20  f. 

Sedan-chair  to  convey  bride  to  her  hus- 
band's home  in  China,  39  f. 

Seed-sowing,  blood  sprinkled  at  door  at 
festival  of,  20. 

Seed-time  ceremony  at  threshold,  16. 

Segub,  Jericho's  foundation  laid  in 
blood  of,  47. 

Selden,  John  :  cited,  140. 

Senghi  murad,  "  stone  of  desire,"  at 
Baveddeen,  125. 

Sentiment  as  origin  of  persistent  popular 
customs,  36. 

Sephardeem,  red  hand  among,  76. 

Septuagint,  references  to,  117,  207. 

Sepulcher,  Holy,  Church  of,  221. 

Serpent  :  as  guardian  of  thresholds 
in  Babylon,  no  f.;  on  temple  door- 
way kissed  by  worshipers,  116  ;  as 
symbol  of  life,  233  f.,  236  ;  on 
boundary  stone  in  Babylonian 
domains,    234  ;    and     phallus     in 


Babylonian  mythology,  235  ;  rep- 
resentative of  evil,  235  ;  and 
iEsculapius,  236  ;  with  Hindoo  dei- 
ties, 236  ;  and  Medusa,  237  ;  wor- 
ship perversion  of  threshold  cove- 
nant, 237  ;  indicating  desire,  238  ; 
curse  resting  on,  239;  worship  in 
Bangalore,  258  f. 

Servius,  Maurus  H. :  cited,  29  f. 

Seti  I.,  memorial  stone  of,  180. 

Shagarakti-Buriash,  inscription  of,  154. 

Shah  of  Persia  entering  Teheran,  189. 

Shaking  hands  across  threshold  cause 
of  quarrel,  12. 

Shamash,  sun-god  :  and  his  worshipers 
with  uplifted  hands.  80  :  gates  open 
for  his  daily  circuit,  105  ;  reference 
to,  201. 

Shanghai,  human  sacrifice  in,  48. 

Shaykhs  kissing  temple  threshold  near 
Nineveh,  116. 

Sheep,  sacrifice  of :  on  threshold  for 
guest,  in  Syria,  3  f.  ;  in  Egypt, 
3f.,  8;  in  Central  Africa,  9,  27; 
east  of  Sea  of  Galilee,  n  ;  in  Ire- 
land, 21  ;  among  Copts,  26,  45  ; 
among  Armenian  Christians,  27  ; 
at  beginning  of  railroad  at  Jaffa,  57  ; 
to  reconcile  enemies  in  Arabia,  60. 

Sherrin,  R.  R.  A.:  cited,  107  f. 

Shields  painted  with  red  hand  among 
American  Indians,  87. 

Shih  King,  Chinese,  on  border  sacri- 
fices, 185. 

Shimenawa  suspended  above  doors  in 
Japan,  72. 

Shinto  temples :  modeled  on  primitive 
Japanese  hut,  101  ;  doorways  apart 
from,  104  ;  pilgrims  at  threshold  of, 
125;  reference  to,  201. 

Shintoism,  sacred  symbol  of,  suspended 
above  door,  72. 

Shintu,  tutelar  gods  of  threshold  in 
China,  95  f. 

Ship,  horseshoe  on  mast  of,  74. 

Shoes  removed  at  threshold  :  of  mosks, 
123  ;  of  churches  in  Abyssinia,  130. 

Shoo  King,  Chinese,  reference  to,  158. 

Shooter,  Joseph  :  cited,  28. 

Shores  of  sea  as  boundaries,  178. 

Shortland,  Edward,  quotation  from,  93. 

Shrines  :  sacred  doorways  in  front  of, 
in  China,  Japan,  Korea,  104 ;  in 
Siam,  India,  105  ;  at  doorway  in 
Babylonia,  in  Assyria,  105  ;  in 
Egypt,  106  ;  of  Kitzuki,  of  Ise,  of 
Kikko,  threshold  customs  at,  125  f. 

Siam,  doorways  near  temples  in,  104. 

Sibree,  James  :  cited,  38. 

Sicily,  prominence  of  door  in,  107. 

Sidon,  consul  at,  reference  to,  70. 

Sign  of  red  hand.     See  Red  hand. 

Silvanus,  god  of  boundaries,  171,  173. 

Silver  hand  worn  by  children,  76. 


296 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


"Silver  Threshold,"  temple  of,  in 
Thebes,  127. 

Sin,  Moon-god,  references  to,  80,  154. 

Sinai  :  Moses  in  wilderness  of,  160 f.  ; 
peninsula  of,  boundary  marks  in, 
179,  184. 

Sioux,  red  hand  among,  87. 

Sippara,  sanctity  of  doorway  in,  108  f. 

Sippu,  Assyrian  word  for  threshold,!  10  f., 
209. 

Siritn,  Hebrew  for  hinges,  253. 

Sitting  on  threshold  not  allowed  in  Rus- 
sia, 12. 

Siva:  hand  as  symbol  of,  78,  198;  tem- 
ple of,  at  Thavesar,  157  ;  crowned 
with  serpent,  236. 

Skarpanto,  threshold  custom  in,  31. 

Skeat,  Rev.  Walter  W.  :  cited,  265. 

Skertchley,  J.  A.:  cited,  245. 

Skins  stamped  with  red  hand  among 
American  Indians,  83. 

Slave,  Hebrew,  adoption  of,  as  member 
of  family,  210. 

Slavic  :  custom  of  covenanting,  42  ; 
citadel  made  firm  by  immuring  child 
in  walls,  50 ;  peoples,  "  Death 
Week  "  among,  19. 

Smith,  Dr.  William :  cited,  7,  73,  134, 
172  f.,  236  f.,  263.  See,  also,  Smith 
and  Cheetham. 

Smith,  W.  Robertson  :  quotation  from, 
59  f.  ;  cited,  209,  214,  231  f. 

Smith,  George  :  cited,  109. 

Smith  and  Cheetham  :  cited,  222. 

Snakes.     See  Serpents. 

Sneezing  on  threshold  unpropitious,  11. 

Sneferu  in  Sinaitic  Peninsula,  178  f. 

Snell,  Rev.  A.,  reference  to,  140. 

Sodom  :  reference  to  king  of,  82  ;  angels 
welcomed  in,  211. 

Soko  at  Tangier,  reference  to,  52. 

Somali  tribes,  sacrifice  at  threshold 
among,  27. 

Somnauth,  idol  in  temple  of,  shattered 
and  placed  under  threshold,  123. 

Sophocles  :  cited,  133. 

Sorcery,  prominence  of  threshold  in,  17  f. 

Sources  of  rivers  as  boundaries,  178. 

South  America  :  doorways  smeared  with 
blood  in,  73 ;  earliest  form  of  tem- 
ple in,  144  ;  reverence  for  phallic 
emblems  in,  230;  serpent  as  reli- 
gious symbol  in,  235. 

South  Sea  Islands,  temples  of,  148. 

Sovereigns  in  ancient  East  represented 
by  uplifted  hand,  79  f. 

Spain,  reverence  for  phallic  emblems  in, 
230. 

Spanish  Jews,  significance  of  red  hand 
among,  76. 

Spectator,  The,  reference  to,  19. 

Spencer,  Herbert,  references  to,  21,  98. 

Spiritual  forces, conception  of,  character- 
istic of  man,  223. 


Spitting  on  threshold  unpropitious,  n. 

Spivak,  Dr.  :  cited,  93. 

Sprenger,  A :  cited,  164,  200. 

Squier,  Hon.  E.  G. :  cited,  230,  235. 

Stade,  Dr.  Bernard  :  cited,  214,  255. 

Stamboul,  sacrifice  on  threshold  of  house 
spared  in  great  fire  in,  66  f. 

Stanitsas,  or  land  divisions  among  Cos- 
sacks, 175  f. 

Stanley,  Henry  M.  :  cited,  86,  174,  182. 

Stanley,  Dean  :  cited,  222,  268  f. 

States  or  nations,  boundaries  of,  177. 

Statues  in  foundations  in  Rome,  55  f. 

Stele  :  memorial  of  dead  inscribed  on, 
106 ;  monumental,  origin  of,  107  ; 
containing  sculptured  image  of 
Assyrian  king,  315;  set  up  on 
boundary  line,  177  ;  as  doorways, 
178. 

Stengel's  Die gnech.  Sac,  reference  to, 
172. 

Stenin,  P.  von  :  cited,  249. 

Stephens,  John  L. :  cited,  82-S4,  146. 

Stepped  pyramid :  temples  with  altar 
or  shrine  at  summit,  in  ;  in  Jacob's 
dream  at  Bethel,  112  ;  of  Meydoom 
in  Egypt,  126  f.  ;  reference  to,  144  ; 
as  place  of  worship,  148. 

Stepping  over :  blood  on  threshold,  4f., 
26,  45  f. ;  salt  on  threshold,  5 ; 
threshold  to  insure  protection  of 
guardian  deity,  12 ;  girdle  in  mar- 
riage among  Greeks,  30  ;  threshold, 
a  bride  having  care  to,  36  ;  threshold 
to  prove  innocence  from  crime 
among  Hindoos,  121  f. 

Stillborn  children  buried  under  thresh- 
old in  Russia,  18. 

Stoicheionein,  Greek  term  for  founda- 
tion ceremony,  53  f. 

Stone :  sacrificial,  laid  on  summit  of 
Mexican  temple,  56 ;  posts  most 
ancient  remains  of  primitive  man's 
handiwork,  102 ;  pillars  marking 
boundaries  of  states  or  nations,  177  ; 
upright,  significance  of,  258. 

"Stone,  Coronation,"  in  Westminster 
Abbey,  268. 

"Stone  of  desire"  at  Baveddeen,  125. 

Stove,  Russian  household  deity  located 
near,  23. 

Strack,  Dr.  H.  L.  :  cited,  20,  46,  93. 

Straw  cure  for  disorder  in  North  Ger- 
many, 18. 

Strean,  Dr.,  quotation  from,  21. 

Stuart,  Villiers  :  cited,  179. 

"Sublime  Porte:"  high  court  of  Tur- 
key called,  65  ;  meaning  of,  103. 

Suez  Canal,  reference  to,  180. 

Sultan  :  justice  administered  at  gate  by, 
65  ;  as  spiritual  father  of  faithful 
Muhammadans,  103. 

Sultan  Muhammad  II.,  bloody  hand  of, 
stamped  on  mosk,  77. 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


297 


Sun  disk,  winged,  over  doors  of  temples 
in  Egypt,  127. 

Sun-god  Shamash  :  and  his  worshipers 
with  uplifted  hands,  80  f.;  gates  open 
to  allow  of  daily  circuits  of,  105. 

Sun-orb,  winged,  with  serpent,  234. 

Sunday  School  Times,  The,  references 
to,  260  f. 

Survivals  of  threshold  covenant  in 
America  and  Europe,  3,  8,  13,  221. 

Susa,  king  rendering  justice  at  palace 
gate  of,  60. 

Swedish  tradition  of  burial  of  lamb 
under  altar,  56. 

Symbol :  of  feminine  in  nature,  tree  or 
bush,  214  ;  misusing,  results  of, 
229 ;  of  evil  in  religions  of  Baby- 
lonia, Egypt,  India,  Phenicia, 
Greece,  Mexico,  and  Peru,  235  ;  of 
virginity,  243  f. 

Symbols  :  buried  under  foundation- 
stone,  109 ;  and  legends  concerning 
boundary  lines,  171  f. 

Syria :  sacrifices  on  threshold  in,  3-5  ; 
treading  on  threshold  in,  10 ;  refer- 


ence to,  11  ;  stepping  over  sacn 


lice 


at  threshold  in,  26  ;  bride  carried 
across  threshold  in,  38,  45 ;  name 
for  sign  of  hand  among  Christians 
in,  77  ;  kissing  threshold  in,  129  ; 
nuptial  customs  of,  196,  246  ;  mar- 
riage certificate  in,  245  ;  sacredness 
of  threshold,  259  f. 
Syrian  :  derwishes,  threshold  custom  of, 
10  ;  officer's  welcome  at  threshold, 
11 ;  testimony  of  native,  59. 

Tablets,  ancestral,  of  China,  108. 
Tahiti,  primitive  threshold  in,  250. 
Tai  Shan,  reference  to,  158. 
Talisman,   open  hand    as,   in   Europe, 

Africa,  and  America,  79. 
Tallquist's  rendering  of  Assyrian  word, 

83- 

Talmud :  Jewish,  references  to,  93,  200, 
208,  210  f.,  239  ;  Babylonian,  refer- 
ences to,  211,  253. 

Tammuz  of  Syria,  reference  to,  115. 

Tangier,  reference  to,  62. 

Tanoans,  reference  to,  88. 

Targum,  reference  to,  117. 

Tatars  :  treading  on  threshold  among, 
13  ;  importance  of  threshold  among, 
39. 

Teheran,  Shah  of  Persia  entering,  189. 

Tell  el-Hesy,  ram's  horn  on  doorway  in, 
58. 

Tello,  sanctity  of  doorway  in,  108  f. 

Temple :  waters  of  life  flowing  from 
under  threshold  of,  114  ;  doorway 
oldest  form  of,  in  Egypt,  126  ;  at 
Carthage,  prominence  of  threshold 
in,  130;  in  Greece,  134:  earliest 
form  of,   in    Mexico,   Central   and 


South  America,  144 ;  building  in 
Babylonia,  153  ;  of  Thor,  in  Iceland, 
160;  at  Jerusalem,  site  of,  161; 
earliest  forms  of,  220. 

Temples :  preceded  by  houses,  3 ; 
images  under  threshold  of,  14 ;  as 
dwelling  for  deity,  99  ;  called  "  great 
house  of  the  village"  in  Samoa, 
101  ;  in  form  of  stepped  pyramid  in 
Babylonia,  Mesopotamia,  Egypt, 
Mexico,  Central  America,  Peru, 
and  South  Sea  Islands,  in ;  in 
Jacob's  dream,  112;  in  Carthage, 
130;  Egyptian,  history  of,  155;  as 
boundaries,  178. 

Temptation,  first,  and  symbol  of  tree  and 
serpent,  237. 

Tennasserin,  survival  of  foundation- 
laying  in  blood  in,  51  f. 

Tent :  fire  at  entrance  of,  22  f.  ;  laying 
hold  of,  as  appeal  for  hospitality  in 
East,  57  ;  stamped  with  red  hand 
among  American  Indians,  83. 

"  Teraphim  "  connected  with  threshold, 
109. 

Terence  :  cited,  30. 

Terminalia,  festival  of,  173. 

Terminus  :    god,  represented  by  pillar, 

I7I"I73-  . 

Tertullian  :  his  warning  against  deities 

at  doors  and  gates,  97  f. 
Teutonic  thresholds  made  high,  12. 
Thang,  emperor  of  China,  157. 
Thapsacus,  equivalent  of  Tiphsakh,  210. 
Thavesar,  temple  of  Siva  at,  157. 
Theban  rite,  kissing  ground  at  threshold 

of  shrine  in,  128. 
Thebes  ;  temple  of  "  Silver  Threshold  " 

at,    127  ;    symbols    on    temples    of 

ancient,  234. 
Theocritus :  cited,  73. 
Theseus  setting  up  pillar,  180  f. 
Thief  and   robber,  reference   to   word, 

260. 
Thieving    goldsmith    struck    dead   at 

threshold,  122. 
Thomson,  Dr.  W.  M.  :    cited,  70,  222. 
Thompson,    President     Robert     Ellis : 

cited,  176. 
Thor,  temple  of,  in  Iceland,  160. 
Thorolf,  reference  to,  160. 
Thousand  and  One   Nights,   reference 

to,  248. 
Thuringian   legend  of  burying  child  in 

foundation,  49. 
Thyra,  a  translation  of  saph,  207. 
Tiamat,  reference  to,  235. 
Tiba,  female  god  of  Maui,  150. 
Tibet  :    disemboweling   of    devotee    in, 

125  ;  Booddhist  prayer  in,  199. 
Tiglath-Pileser  I.  and  boundary   lines, 

177. 
Tigris,  sources  of,  boundary  marks  at, 

178. 


298 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


Tiki,  descendant  of  Rongo,  152. 
Times,  The,  London,  reference  to,  61  f. 
Timsah,  Lake,  reference  to,  180. 
Tiphsakh,  meaning  of,  210. 
Tokens:  covenant,  66-74  ;  of  virginity, 

243  f- 
Tomb  :  false  door  of,  in  Old  Empire  of 
Egypt,  106  f.  ;  of  kings  of  Persia, 
inscription  relating  to    sacredness 
of  gate   in,   124;    of  Alee,   kissing 
threshold  of,  124 ;  of  Baha-ed-deen 
Nakishbend,    threshold     stone    of, 
124  f. ;  closed  door  in,  representing 
deceased  going  to  Osiris,  128. 
Torch,  marriage,  origin  of,  226. 
Touching  name  of  God  with  finger  by 

Jews,  69  f. 
Towkas,  marriage  custom  at  threshold 

among,  35. 
Treading  on    threshold   forbidden  :    in 
Persia,    Russia,    Finland,    United 
States,  and  among  Teutons,  11  f. ; 
in  Europe  and  America,  13  ;  tabooed 
by  Tatars,  13. 
Tree  :  human  sacrifices  at  foot  of,  8  f.  ; 
pipal,  in  Upper  India,  156  ;  a  boun- 
dary landmark  in  primitive  times, 
173  f. ;  symbol  of  feminine  in  nature, 
214,  230, 238  :  and  pillar,  symbolism 
of,  232  ;  references  to,  237,  259. 
"  Tree  of  Knowledge,"  reference  to,  156 
Trees,  sacred  :  near  doorways  in  China, 
Japan,  Korea,  Siam,  and  India,  104, 
156  ;  grove  of,  in  religious  symbol- 
isms, 230. 
Tricha,  bridge  of,  story  of  sacrifice  in 

building  of,  52. 
Tristram,  H.  B.  :  cited,  260. 
Trumbull,  H.  Clay  :    cited,  3-5,  57,  123, 

180,  226,  244. 
Tseereem,  Hebrew  word  for  hinges,  253. 
Tunis  :  bloody  hand  on  walls  in,  78  f.  ; 
symbol    of    open    hand    on    graves 
near,  79  ;  Jewish  custom  in,  on  re- 
ceiving praise,  79. 
Turkestan,  threshold  stone  at  tomb  of 

national  saint  of,  125. 
Turkey,  sacrifice  of,  in  Ireland,  21. 
Turkey  :  blood  on  threshold  in  marriage 
in,    26 ;    marriage    custom     among 
Greeks  in,    30 ;    high    court   of,  at 
palace    door,     65 ;      banners     and 
prayer-rugs     inscribed    with     open 
hand  in,  78. 
Turkish  building  at  Columbian  Exposi- 
tion, sacrifices  at  foundation  of,  57. 
Turner,  Dr.  George :  cited,  13,  20,  101, 

174,  251  f. 

Tuscany  :  threshold  in  folk  customs  in, 

17  f.  ;    exorcism  with  incense  in,  18  ; 

burning  incense  on  threshold  in,  42. 

Tutelary  deity,  every  building  in  Egypt 

placed  under  protection  of,  96  f. 
Tylor,  Dr.  E.  B.  :  cited,  46,  49,  51  f.,  231. 


Uganda,  charms  on  threshold  and  door 

in,  15. 
Unchastity   atoned    for    by   sprinkling 
blood  on  threshold  among  Dyaks, 
20. 
Ungere,  Latin  for  "  to  anoint,"  29. 
United  States  :    "  Christening  "  a  ship 
in,   8  ;     high   thresholds   in  houses 
of.    12 ;     stepping    over    cracks   in 
pavements  in,   13 ;    Bible  and  salt 
carried  over  threshold  in,  21  ;  lift- 
ing   bride   over   threshold    in,   44  ; 
situation    of   front    door    in,    55 ; 
foundation  sacrifice  in,  57 ;  horse- 
shoes on  door-posts  in,  73  f.  ;  sur- 
vivals   of    primal     sacredness    of 
threshold     in,    147    f.  ;     boundary 
marks     in,     182 ;      sacredness     of 
threshold  among  Scandinavians  of, 
259- 
Unleavened  bread,  feast  of,  216. 
Unxor,  meaning  of  Latin  word,  29. 
Uplifted   hand :    in   Carthage,    78 ;     in 
Tunis,  78  f.  ;    represented   among 
deities  of  Babylonia,  Assyria,  Phe- 
nicia,  and  Egypt,  79  f.  ;  in  seal  of 
Ur-Gur,  earliest  ruler  of  "  Ur  of  the 
Chaldees,"  80  ;  gods  Sin,  Shamash, 
and  Asshur,  with,  80 ;  Babylonian 
king  recognized  by,  80;  Amenophis 
IV.  before  Aten-ra  with,  81  ;  Abra- 
ham with,  82  ;   Psalmist's  reference 
to,  82  ;  Isaiah's  reference  to  God's, 
82  ;    Assyrian  and  Hebrew  words 
for    swearing    by,  83 ;    in   judicial 
oath,  83  ;  found  on  stepped  pyramid 
temples  of    Polynesia,  83  ;    power 
imparted  to  Egyptian  king  by  touch 
of,  85  ;  in  South  Sea  Islands,  148. 
Uplifted  threshold,  144. 
Upsal,  wedding  customs  in  old  temple 

of,  140. 
"  Ur  of  the  Chaldees  :"  uplifted  hand  in 
seal  of  earliest  ruler  of,  80 ;  temple 
at;  153  ;  Abraham  at,  160. 
Ur-Gur,    with    uplifted     hands    before 

moon-god  Sin,  80. 
Usurtasen  III.,  King:  cited,  179. 
Uxor,  meaning  of  Latin  word,  29. 

Vairorongo,  sacred  stream  of  under- 
world, in  Islands  of  Sea,  152. 

Vambery,  Arminius  :  cited,  125. 

Vari,  or  "  The-very-beginning,"  in  Isl- 
ands of  Sea,  151. 

Vatea,  part  man  and  part  fish,  in  Islands 
of  Sea,  152. 

Vatican,  bronze  pine  cone  in  gardens  of, 
257- 

Vattu,  god  of  threshold  in  India,  75. 

Vattuma,  god  of  threshold  in  India,  95. 

V&tttttna  Santhe,  tribute  to,  god  of 
threshold  in  India,  95. 

Vaux,  J.  Edward  :  cited"  140. 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


299 


Vedas,  references  to,  99,  197. 

Vedi,  feminine  in  Sanskrit,  197. 

Vedic  :  law  of  door-sill,  15 ;  Sutras  on 
stepping  over  threshold,  36  f.  ;  teach- 
ings concerning  temples,  155  f. 

Vermilion  paint  for  sign  of  red  hand 
among  Omahas,  85. 

Verrall,  Margaret  de  G.  See  Harrison 
and  Verrall. 

Victor  in  Olympian  games  avoiding  city 
gates,  7 

Virgil ;  cited,  29  f.  :  his  description  of 
arrival  of  ./Eneas  at  court  of  Queen 
Dido,  130. 

"  Virgin  Mary's  Hand  "  among  Chris- 
tians in  Syria,  77. 

"  Virgin  of  Israel,"  213,  218. 

Virginity  :  tokens  of,  243  f.  ;  Bible  testi- 
mony of  tokens  of,  251. 

Vishnoo,  god  :  reference  to,  95  ;  pagoda 
of,  reference  to,  121  ;  foot  of,  156  ; 
seated  on  serpent,  235. 

Vishnooism,  concerning  temples,  156. 

"  Vishnu-pad,"  reference  to,  156. 

Vitruvius  :  his  description  of  temple,  36. 

Vlachs,  indication  of  foundation  sacri- 
fice in  ballad  of,  52. 

Vlam,  name  for  "  friend  of  the  bride- 
groom "  among  Albanians,  37  f. 

"  Vodyaoni,"  sacrifice  to,  in  Russia,  19. 

Volck.     See  Mttlhau  and  Volck. 

Volga,  altar  as  threshold  among  people 
on,  32. 

Voltaire  :  cited,  202. 

Von  LSher  and  Joyner  :  reference  to, 
231. 

Vulgate  :  reference  to,  207. 

Wake,  C.  Staniland.  See  Westropp 
and  Wake. 

Wallace,  Donald  M.:  reference  to,  176. 

Wallachia,  story  of  foundation  sacrifice 
in,  52. 

Wallachians,  marriage  rite  among,  29. 

Washburn,  President,  of  Robert  Col- 
lege :  cited,  66  f. 

Water :  and  corn  offered  on  threshold, 
16  f. ;  and  honey  for  bride  at  thresh- 
old, 30  ;  poured  out  in  pathway  of 
bridegroom  among  Greeks  of 
Turkey,  30 ;  of  life  underneath 
threshold,  in  legend  of  Ishtar,  114  ; 
in  temple  at  Jerusalem,  114  :  holy, 
at  doorway  of  Roman  Catholic 
churches,  147. 

Water-spirit,  appeasing,  in  Russia,  19. 

Weber's  Die  Lehran  d.  Talmud,  refer- 
ence to,  239. 

Wedding  ceremonies :  among  'Anazeh 
Bed'ween,  and  Armenians  in  Tur- 
key, 26  ;  in  Syria,  26,  28  f.,  38, 196  ; 
in  Egypt,  26,  38,  196;  in  Cyprus, 
27  ;  among  Somalis  in  Central 
Africa,  27  f,;  in  South   Africa,  28; 


among  fellaheen  of  Palestine,  and 
Wallachians,  29  ;  among  Greeks  of 
Turkey,  and  in  Morea,  30  :  in 
Rhodes,  30  f.;   in  island  of  Skar- 

Eanto  and  among  Morlacchi,  in 
>almatia,  31 ;  in  portions  of  Rus- 
sia, 31  f.;  among  Mordvins  of  Rus- 
sia, 32  f.,  41-44;  in  Holland,  33; 
in  Germany,  33  f,  138  f.;  among 
Sea  Dyaks  of  Borneo,  34  ;  in 
Central  America,  34  f.,  45  ;  in 
Scotland,  34,  44 ;  among  Towkas, 
35;  among  Hindoos,  36-38,  40  f.; 
among  Albanians,  37  f;  inlndia,38, 
4of.;  in  Madagascar,38;  in  Abyssin- 
ia, 38  f.,  131  ;  among  tribes  of  West 
Africa,  in  ancient  Assyria,  among 
Khonds  of  Orissa,  among  Tatars, 
and  among  Eskimos,  39;  in  ancient 
Rome,  39-41  ;  in  China,  39-41,  196  ; 
in  ancient  Greece,  39,  41  ;  in  Eng- 
land, 44,  139-142 ;  in  Ireland,  44, 
142  ;  in  United  States,  44,  147  f.; 
in  France,  139  ;  in  Sweden,  140  f.;  in 
Dahomey,  Liberia,  in  various  parts 
of  Europe,  and  in  Samoa,  196  ; 
among  Mubammadans,  247;  among 
Christians  at  Haleb,  248  ;  in  Dar- 
four,  249;  in  Samoa,  251. 

Wedding :  sacrifice  in  Cyprus,  27 ; 
threshold  custom  in  Skarpanto,  31  ; 
in  Russia,  31  f.  ;  threshold  or  hearth- 
stone covenant  at,  226. 

Weeping  worship  of  Tammuz,  115. 

IVely,  a  saint's  tomb,  as  place  of  wor- 
ship in  Egypt,  129. 

Westropp  and  Wake  :  cited,  230. 

White  hand  among  American  Indians, 
90. 

Wife  :  word  for,  among  Latins,  29  ;  and 
threshold  in  Arabic,  200,  256  ;  brush- 
topped  pole,  symbol  of,  214. 

Wilkins,  W.  J.  G.:  cited.  198,  235  f. 

Wilkinson,  Sir  J.  G.  :  quotation  from, 
68  f. ;  cited,  81,  96  f.,  100,  106, 127  (., 
20T,  234  f. 

Williams,  S.  Wells  :  cited,  40,  71,  96, 
108,  158. 

Williams,  Talcott,  quotation  from,  62  f. 

Window  :  coffin  passed  out  of,  to  avoid 
threshold,  in  Europe  and  America, 
25 ;  opened  and  door  closed  at 
death  in  Europe  and  America,  25. 

Winged  sun  disk  :  over  doors  of  temples 
in  Egypt,  127 ;  and  serpent  in 
Egypt,  234. 

Winnebagoes,  prominence  of  hand 
among,   84. 

Winter,  feast  at  close  of,  among  Sla- 
vonic peoples,  19. 

Wisconsin,  sacredness  of  threshold 
among  Scandinavians  in,  259. 

Witham  in  Essex,  marriage  custom  at, 
140. 


300 


TOPICAL  INDEX. 


"  Witness  Heap  "  of  covenant  between 
Jacob  and  Laban,  171. 

Woman  :  buried  in  foundation  of  bridge 
of  Arta,  52 ;  four  ages  of,  symbol- 
ized among  American  Indians,  89  f.; 
recognized  as  primitive  altar,  197  ; 
form  of,  pattern  of  altar  form,  197; 
and  door  in  Hebrew  Scriptures,  253  ; 
in  Arabic  and  German,  256. 

Wood,  Edward  J.:  cited,  31,  44,  131, 
138,  140-142  ;  quotation  from,  139. 

Wood-apple  as  witness  of  marriage,  259. 

Woolwas,  betrothal  custom  at  threshold 
among,  34. 

Worms,  door  of  synagogue  in,  144. 

Worship  :  at  door  in  Egypt,  127  f. ;  cov- 
enant, spirit  of  all  true,  221  ;  origin 
of  rites  of,  226  ;  phallic,  perversion 
of  purer  idea,  230 ;  Hindoo,  mode  of, 
236 ;  of  serpent  in  Bangalore,  258  f. 

Wright,  Julia  McNair  :   cited,  24. 

Ximenez,  Francisco,  missionary  : 
cited,  73,  98. 

Yama  as  first  man  and  first  priest  in 

India,  99. 
Yarriba,  survival  of  foundation-laying 

in  blood  in,  51  f. 
Yawning  on  threshold  unpropitious,  11. 
Yeha,  monoliths  in  front  of  temple  at, 

*3*« 


Yemen,  marriage  ceremonies  in,  248. 
Yezidis :     kissing    doorway   of    temple 

among,  116  ;  reference  to,  190. 
Yoni,  doorway  of  physical  life,  198. 
Yii,  Chinese  for  threshold.  256. 
Yucatan,  doorways  inscribed  with  red 

hand  in,  81  f. 
Yuhlui,    tutelar    god    of    threshold    in 

China,  95  f. 

Zabu,  King,  reference  to,  154, 

Zamzam,  sacred  spring  at  Meccah, 
163. 

Zariru,  Babylonian  gate  plated  with 
metal  called,  in. 

Zedekiah,  king  of  Judah,  sitting  in  gate 
of  Benjamin,  64. 

Zephaniah  :  his  curse  on  Assyria,  and 
his  reference  to  "  drought  in  thresh- 
olds," 115  ;  foretelling  punishment 
on  those  that  leap  over  threshold, 
117. 

Zeus :  House  of,  on  Olympus,  132 ; 
reference  to,  concerning  boundary 
lines,  171 ;  image  of,  as  boundary 
landmark,  172. 

Ziggurat,  early  form  of  temple,  229. 

Zindero,  bloody  threshold  offering 
in,  8  f. 

Zinga,  boundaries  in,  174. 

Zion,  laying  foundation  stone  in,  162. 

Zuni  Indians,  red  hand  among,  91. 


SCRIPTURAL  INDEX. 


GENESIS. 

TEXT  PAGE  j 

2  :  8-10 115 

2  :  25 239 

3  :  1-13,  16 238 

3  :  14,  15,  22-24    .     .     .239 

4  :  1,  17,  25     .     .     .     .  238 

11  :  1-9 103 

11  :  28 153 

11  :  31 80 

12  :  1-8 160 

*3  :  !-3 l6° 

14  :  22 82 

15  : 1-6  .  .  187,  211,  266 
15:8-16,20,21  187,211,266 
15  :  7  .  80,  187,  2ii,  266 
15 :  17-19    187,  211,  244,  266 

18  :  1-9 101 

19  :  1-25 211 

21  :  22-24    .     .     .     170,  244 

21  :  25-33 x7° 

22  :  1-13 161 

22  :  17 65 

25  :  17-19 244 

28  :  10-22    .     .     .     112,  160 

28  :  36 238 

30  :  2 238 

30  :  22 253 

3i  :  43-53 I7I 

49:8-17 85 


EXODUS. 


n, 


2  :  23-25 

3  :  1-6, 

3  :  7-!o 
3:19 

4  :  25.  26 

5  :  1 


i-7 


6 

6: 

10  :  21,  29 


:3-2i 
:  22 
:  23 

:3»x4 

:  2-4 
:5,6 


TEXT  PAGE 

23  :  8-10 119 

26  :  1-14 101 

29  : 4,  10-12     .    .     .    .119 

32  :  " 83 

32  :  26 63 

34  :  12-15     .      213,  214,  233 
34  :  16    .     .     .     .    213,  214 

39  :  32 1GI 

40  :  6,  29 119 


LEVITICUS. 


1  :3»5 


.  205 

.  16 

61,  205 

•  83 
.  244 
.  205 

•  205 
.  82 
.  205 
.  206 

204,  212 
.  204 

205,  214 
.  206 

•  83 
.  210 

65,  210 
.  260 


4  :  4,  7    

8  :  1-36 

9  :  1,  2    

12  :  6 

14  :  ">  23 

15  :  *4>  29 

16  :  7 

17  :  2-6,  8,  9    .     .     .     . 
17  :  7       ....     ug, 

19  :  21 

20  :  5-8  

23;:  5 

NUMBERS. 
6  :  10-18 119 

12  :  5 "9 

14  :  30 82 

15  :  39.  4° 213 

20  :  6 119 

21  :  4-9 239 

27  :  22,  23 85 

35  ••  6,  32 151 

DEUTERONOMY. 

3:24 83 

4  :  34 83 

4  :  41-43 15I 

5:i5 83 

6:4-9 69 

6:9 69 

6  :  21 83 

7:5 214,  233 

7  :  8,  19 83 

7  :  13 238 


26 


83 


TEXT  PAGE 
Ii:2 83 

11  :  13-21 96 

12  :  3 214 

12  :  31 267 

14  :  17 65 

16  :  21,  22 233 

19  :  1-13 J5* 

19  :  14 170 

20  :  5 69 

20  :  10-13 262 

22  :  13-21 252 

25  :  1-9 229 

27  :  17 170 

28  :  4, 18,  53   .    .     .    .  238 

29  :  12 266 

30  :  9 238 

31  :  J5 "9 

31  :  16 213 

JOSHUA. 
2  :  1-20  ....    206,  211 
2  :  21 206 

5  :  10-12 211 

6  :  12-15 2I1 

6  :  16,  17  .  206,  211 
6  :  18-25 2°6 

6  :  26 47 

10  :  3-35 58 

12  :  11 58 

*5  :  39 58 

20  :  1-9 151 

JUDGES. 
2  :  17 213 

3:7 2I4 

7  :  1-25 211 

8  :  27,33 2I3 

11  :  39 238 

16  :  3 255 

19  :  25  ...  .  64,  238 
19  :  26,  28-30  ....  64 
19:27    .     .     .     .      64,207 

RUTH. 
4  :  1-10        64 

1  SAMUEL. 

1  :  19 238 

4  :  19 253 

30I 


;02 


SCRIPTURAL  INDEX. 


TEXT 

5  :  i-5 
29  :  6 


PAGE  I  TEXT 

•  "7  i  :  21 


2  SAMUEL. 


3  :  25      - 
6  :  1-19  . 
is  :  2-4  . 
19  :  8 
24  :  15-25 


1  KINGS. 


1:4. 
2  :  28 
4:24 

7:50 
14:17 
16  :34 


2  KINGS. 

5:17 

9  :  22,  23 

12  :  9      ....     iaif 

12  :  13 

14  :  19 

16  :  3 

J7  :  17.  3i 

18:4 

J8  :  14-19 

19  :  20-26,  28-36  .     .     . 
19  :  27    .     .     .     .     109, 

21  :  6 

22  :  4 

23  :  10 
23  :4 


[21, 


121,  207, 
.       121. 


i  CHRONICLES. 

5  :  25 

9  :  19,  22     

J5  :  23,  24 


JOB. 


PSALMS. 


121  :  8 


38,39      •     •     • 
PROVERBS. 


PAGE 

.  114 
•  252 
.    170 


181 

82 

213 

120 

100 

109 

2j8 

238 

23S 
213 


18 

34 
:  30 


TEXT 

10  :  4 
12  :  2- 

16 
16 
16  :  21 

19  :  10 

20  :  26, 
20  :  30 
20:34 


PAGE 


-7,  9-20,  22-63 


-36,  38-49 

37     -     •     • 
6,7.     •     • 


238 
64 
238 1 5 
170  9 
170 
253 


DANIEL. 


.     .  260 

•  •  213 
.  .  268 
213, 267 

•  •  238 
.     .  267 

•  •  213 

•  •     83 

-  •  213 
213,  267 
.     .  207 

-  .  207 
118,  207 
.  .  109 
.     .  118 

•  •  115 


ECCLESIASTES. 
15 


49 

1-30 

*5 


HOSEA. 


SONG  OF  SONGS. 

16 238 

8  :  8,  9 252 


2  CHRONICLES. 


3  :  7  ■ 
6  :  32 


4 
5 
1-22 

I 


33  =  8 

34  :  9 


NEHEMIAH. 


9:7- 
9  :  J5 


ESTHER. 


6:2   .     . 

9  :  12-19 


ISAIAH. 


V*7 

6:4  . 

13  :  18 
24  :  12 
28  :  16 


62  :  10 


253 
207 
238 

66 
162 

64 
109 

82 
213 
112 
162 
112 


3 
4 
5 
6  :  6,  7,  10  .     .     . 


12-19 
3,4 


AMOS. 


MICAH. 


JEREMIAH. 
3  :  1-15,  20       ....  213 

7  :  3i 267 

x3  :  27 213 

*9  :  5 267 

3i  :  31,  32 213 

34  :  18 266 

35 : 4       ....     120,  207 

38  :  7-9 64 

50  :  26 112 

52  :  19 207 

52 :  24    .    .    .    .    120, 207 


EZEKIEL. 


6:9 
9:3 


ZEPHANIAH. 


213 
213 
213 
213 
213 
213 


64 
267 
107 


238 


.  .  117 
•  .  "5 
115,  207 


ZECHARIAH. 


8  :  16 


.  .  64 
.  .  208 
207,  208 


MATTHEW. 


i-5,  17-30 


238 
260 
219 
65 
215 
260 
215 


MARK. 

2  :  19,  20 219 

14  :  12-28 215 


SCRIPTURAL  INDEX. 


303 


TEXT  PAGE 

LUKE. 

5  =  34.  35 219 

12  :  39 260 

17  :  19,  20 64 

22  :  7-20 215 

JOHN. 

2  :  13 215 

3  :  14, 15 239 

3  :  16 217 

3  :  28-30 218 

7  :  J"9 2I5 

10  :  1,  10     .     .     .     .6,  261 

10 :  2 6 

10  :  9 6,  104 

13  :  * 2I5 

ACTS. 

2  :  30 23S 

3  :  3.  10 55 


TEXT 

4:4-       • 

6:6  .     . 
8:  18 
13:3      ■ 
14  :  8-14 
19  :  6 


PAGE 

•  8S 

•  85 

•  85 

•  85 

•  i3S 

•  85 


1  CORINTHIANS. 


3  :  IO» IX 

5:7,8  . 

11  :  3      • 


2  CORINTHIANS. 
16 228 


EPHESIANS. 


2  :  20,  21 

3  :  !4, 15 
5  :  23-33 


TEXT  PAGE 

i  TIMOTHY. 

:  14 854 

:  7 "46 


HEBREWS. 

6:2 85 

8  :  8,  9 213 

10  :  20 i36 

10  :  28,  29 218 

1  PETER. 
2  :  5,  6 162 

REVELATION. 
6  :  9,  10 25 

19  :  6-9 220 

20  :  1,  2 240 

21  :  1-9, 12,  22-27  221,  240 

21  :  10, 11,  13-21   .  .  240 

22  :  1,  2   .  .  .  115,  240 

22  :  14, 15 240 

22  :  17,  20 221 


SUPPLEMENT. 


SUPPLEMENT. 


COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS. 

Before  their  publishing,  the  proof-sheets  of  this  volume  were 
submitted  to  a  number  of  prominent  scholars  in  Europe  and 
America,  for  their  examination  and  comment,  in  order  to 
ascertain  if  the  main  thought  of  the  work  seemed  justified  by 
the  facts  known  to  them  in  their  several  special  fields  of  knowl- 
edge and  study.  Some  of  the  opinions  and  suggestions  of  these 
scholars  as  given  herewith  will  have  deservedly,  in  the  eyes  of 
many  readers,  a  weight  and  value  beyond  anything  that  could 
be  said  by  the  author  of  this  work. 


FROM   THE    REV.    DR.    MARCUS   JASTROW. 

As  a  Jewish  clergyman,  and  as  a  conservative  Bible  scholar, 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Jastrow  is  honored  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic 
for  his  special  attainments  in  Talmudic  and  Rabbinical  lore. 
His  great  work,  "A  Dictionary  of  the  Targumim,  the  Tal- 
mud Babli  and  Yerushalmi,  and  the  Midrashic  Literature,"  is 
a  monument  of  his  learning  and  ability  in  these  fields.  He 
writes  : 

« '  I  have  read  your  interesting  work,  «  The  Threshold  COve- 

307 


308  COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS. 

riant,'  with  great  attention,  and  derived  from  it  more  informa- 
tion than  I  can  possibly  thank  you  for. 

"As  I  am  unable  to  form  an  independent  opinion  on  the  bear- 
ing of  your  evidences  on  the  thesis  of  your  work,  I  can  refer 
only  to  those  parts  of  it  which  treat  of  Jewish  customs  and  ideas, 
and,  here,  I  feel  it  a  privilege  to  be  permitted  to  say  that  I 
admire  your  ingenious  conception  of  the  passover  covenant  in 
Egypt.  Especially  interesting,  and  undoubtedly  correct,  is  your 
interpretation  of  Exodus  12  :  23,  according  to  which  the  Lord 
passes  over  the  threshold  in  order  to  visit  the  Israelitish  house, 
and  will  not  allow  the  destroyer  to  enter. 

"  It  may  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  direct  your  attention  to 
a  passage  in  Talmud  Yerushalmi,  Aboda  Zara  III,  42  d,  where  it 
is  said  about  the  Philistines  :  'They  revered  the  threshold  (mif- 
tan)  more  than  the  Dagon,'  to  which  is  added,  'All  other  nations 
made  (worshiped)  only  one  mi/tan,  but  the  Israelites  made 
many  miftanoth?  which  explains  the  verse,  'And  I  will  visit 
punishment  on  him  who  leaps,  and  on  the  mi/tan '  (Zeph.  1  :  9). 
You  will  observe  that  the  Talmud  quotes  the  verse  different 
from  the  Massoretic  text,  which  reads,  '  on  every  one  who  leaps 
over  the  mi/tan. '  I  am  unable  to  decide  whether  the  deviation 
from  the  Massoretic  text  is  owing  to  a  different  text  before  the 
Talmudic  authority  under  consideration,  or  merely  to  a  slip  of 
memory,  such  as  often  occurs  with  those  who  quote  from 
memory. 

"In  Talmud  Babli,  referring  to  the  Philistines  in  relation 
to  the  Dagon,  it  is  said  :  '  They  let  alone  the  Dagon  and  wor- 
shiped the  mi/tan,  for  they  said,  His  prince  (genius)  has 
abandoned  the  Dagon  and  has  come  to  sit  on  the  mi/tan.1  All 
of  which  proves  that  there  lingered  yet  in  the  memory  of  the 
Talmudists  the  traditional  recollection  of  mi/tan  worship." 


COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS.  309 

FROM    PROFESSOR   DR.  HERMAN   V.  HILPRECHT. 

Oldest  among  civilizations  of  which  we  have  any  sure  record 
is  that  of  Babylonia.  Among  the  foremost  scholars  in  that 
realm  is  Dr.  Hilprecht,  formerly  of  the  University  of  Erlangen, 
and  now  Professor  of  Assyriology  in  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania. His  prominence  is  recognized  in  Europe  as  fully  as 
in  America.  His  labors,  in  the  field  and  in  the  study,  in  con- 
nection with  the  successful  Babylonian  Expedition  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania,  and  his  monumental  work,  still  in 
course  of  publication,  on  the  Cuneiform  Texts  brought  to  light 
by  that  expedition,  have  added  to  his  reputation  on  both  sides 
of  the  ocean,  and  confirmed  his  high  standing  among  the 
best  scholars  of  the  world  in  his  special  department  of 
knowledge. 

It  was  while  on  his  way  to  Constantinople,  to  examine  the 
latest  "finds"  in  Babylonia  brought  to  the  Imperial  Museum 
there,  with  which  museum  Professor  Hilprecht  has  an  official 
connection,  that  he  examined  the  proof-sheets  of  "  The  Thresh- 
old Covenant."  Of  the  work  in  its  entirety  he  writes  in  gen- 
erous appreciation  as  follows : 

"  Your  latest  book,  '  The  Threshold  Covenant,'  accompanied 
me  on  my  trip  to  Constantinople.  Before  we  had  crossed  the 
Atlantic  I  had  studied  it  three  times  from  beginning  to  end. 
I  take  the  first  opportunity,  at  Southampton,  to  send  you  these 
lines,  in  order  to  express  to  you  my  full  appreciation  of  what 
you  have  offered  to  the  scientific  world  in  your  magnificent 
work. 

"If  in  your  former  book,  'The  Blood  Covenant,'  you  made 
[as  was  suggested  by  an  eminent  German  theologian]  the 
first  successful  attempt  to  write  a  theology  of  the  blood,  you 


3IO  COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS. 

have  given  us  in  your  most  recent  work  a  thorough  investiga- 
tion on  the  significance  and  history  of  the  primitive  altar  upon 
which  blood  was  shed  by  men  entering  into  a  covenant  with 
God  or  their  fellow-men.  Surely  your  two  books  '  The  Blood 
Covenant,'  and  '  The  Threshold  Covenant '  belong  together, 
and  should  therefore  be  studied  together.  One  supplements 
the  other,  and  the  former  furnishes  the  key  to  a  full  under- 
standing of  the  facts  presented  in  the  latter ;  and  so  again  on 
the  other  side. 

"  It  must  have  cost  you  decenniums  to  gather  all  the  material 
which  you  lay  before  the  reader  in  such  a  systematic  form.  All 
the  nations  of  the  world,  civilized  and  uncivilized,  ancient  and 
modern,  seem  to  have  contributed  their  share  to  your  stately 
structure,  which  has  my  full  admiration.  Viewed  in  this  light 
alone,  your  book  will  always  prove  a  regular  storehouse  of 
knowledge  for  students  of  primitive  rites  and  religions,  and  of 
various  other  kindred  subjects. 

"  It  is,  of  course,  impossible  for  any  specialist  in  one  certain 
line  to  fully  estimate  the  hundreds  of  new  features  presented  in 
your  recent  work.  It  would  be  bold  on  my  part,  at  least,  to 
express  an  opinion  on  questions  with  which  I  am  not  entirely 
familiar.  As,  however,  you  treat  facts  which  bear  closely  upon 
my  special  line  of  investigation, — the  oldest  history,  languages, 
and  civilization  of  the  Euphrates  valley,  and  of  their  rites 
in  general, — I  can  heartily  assure  you  that,  according  to  my 
examination,  you  have  proved  your  main  points  beyond  ques- 
tion. 

"  It  is  first  of  all  sure  that  you  are  the  first  who  fully  recog- 
nized, and  in  fact  rediscovered,  the  world-wide  importance 
and  fundamental  significance  of  the  threshold  in  all  ancient 
religions.     You  have  re-established  an  ancient  rite  which  was 


COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS.  3 1 1 

practically  entirely  forgotten  by  modern  scholars.  By  restoring 
the  threshold  to  its  proper  place  in  primitive  religions,  you  have 
rendered  a  great  service  to  comparative  religion,  archeology, 
and  even  philology.  Many  a  statement  by  ancient  writers  was 
obscure  to  us,  many  a  word  puzzling  as  to  its  original  etymology 
and  significance,  and  not  a  few  facts  brought  to  light  by  recent 
excavations  remained  incoherent  and  mysterious,  because  we 
had  lost  sight  of  the  significance  of  the  threshold,  which,  very 
appropriately,  you  style  the  first  altar  of  the  human  race. 

"  In  reading  your  book  I  could  not  help  wondering  that  all 
these  combinations  which  appear  quite  clear  and  plausible  now 
were  not  made  a  long  while  ago  by  other  investigators.  The 
earliest  inscribed  monuments  of  ancient  Babylonia,  dating  from 
the  fifth  millennium  before  Christ,  are  door-sockets  which  bear 
ample  witness  to  the  correctness  of  your  theory.  Professor 
Hommel's  recent  ingenious  analysis  of  the  Assyrian  word 
for  "  to  pray,"  which  was  a  result  of  his  study  of  your 
1  Threshold  Covenant,'  is  one  of  the  strongest  evidences  in 
favor  of  your  arguments.  Our  own  recent  excavations  of  the 
lowest  strata  of  the  temple  of  Bel  in  Nippur,  which  takes  us 
back  to  7000  B.  C,  testify  in  the  same  direction. 

"  Of  the  greatest  importance  for  the  study  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment religion  is  your  doubtless  correct  explanation  of  the  Pass- 
over. It  is  entirely  in  harmony  with  ancient  customs,  with 
philology,  and  with  common  sense.  According  to  the  old  inter- 
pretation this  rite  hangs,  so  to  speak,  in  the  air,  without  any 
connection,  and  yet  we  know  from  many  other  instances  that 
Old  Testament  rites  of  the  Hebrews  stand  in  the  closest  pos- 
sible connection  with  those  practiced  by  surrounding  nations. 
In  the  light  of  your  investigations  I  regard  it  as  an  established 
fact,  and  as  one  of  the  chief  results  of  your  labors,  that  Jehovah 


3 1 2  COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS. 

in  entering  into  covenant  with  his  '  bride  Israel '  did  not  invent 
a  new  rite,  but  took  one  with  which  his  chosen  people  were 
already  familiar,  and  gave  to  it  a  new  and  deeper  significance 
in  its  new  use  and  relations. 

"  Your  final  chapter,  *  Outgrowths  and  Perversions  of  this 
Rite,'  is  likewise  full  of  thought  and  new  suggestions.  One 
cannot  help  wishing  you  might  have  gone  beyond  the  scope  of 
your  book  and  expressed  yourself  more  in  detail  as  to  the  pre- 
cise connection  in  which  tree  and  phallus  worship  stand  to  the 
threshold  in  each  of  the  principal  ancient  religions,  and  what 
role  the  snake  played  in  the  further  development  or  determina- 
tion of  the  primitive  rite  so  excellently  discussed  by  you.  There 
is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  all  these  different  rites,  however 
independent  of  each  other  they  may  appear  in  later  times,  are 
but  different  outgrowths  of  the  same  original  root  and  later  per- 
versions of  original  uplifting  thought, — search  for  unity  between 
men  and  God.  But  as  you  yourself  have  given  only  brief  indi- 
cations of  this,  I  wisely  abstain  from  entering  into  details. 

"Permit  me  to  congratulate  you  upon  the  completion  of  a 
work  which,  in  the  nature  of  things,  must  attract  the  general 
attention  of  scholars.  Whatever  may  be  the  interpretation  of 
certain  details  contained  in  your  book,  the  one  fact  remains 
sure :  it  will  always  be  your  great  merit  to  have  penetrated  into 
the  long-forgotten  secrets  of  one  of  the  most  ancient  rites  of 
humanity,  and,  by  pointing  out  its  great  importance  for  and  its 
connection  with  other  rites,  to  have  constructed  a  solid  basis 
for  further  investigations,  and  to  have  put  loose  facts  together, 
and  given  them  a  well-defined  place  in  a  regular  system." 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  fresh  material  from  the  excava- 
tions at  Nippur  will  furnish  additional  illustrations  of  the  main 
thesis  of  this  work.     Dr.  Hilprecht  will  be  sure  to  note  these. 


COMMENTS  OF  SPEC  I  A  LISTS.  3  1 3 

FROM    PROFESSOR   DR.    FRITZ      HOMMEL. 

As  an  Arabist  as  well  as  an  Assyriologist,  and  as  a  bright 
thinker  and  learned  scholar,  in  various  departments  of  knowl- 
edge, Dr.  Fritz  Hommel,  Professor  of  Semitic  Languages  in 
the  University  of  Munich,  has  a  deservedly  high  standing. 
His  great  illustrated  "  History  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria"  is  a 
marvelous  treasure-house  of  information  concerning  the  history 
of  the  earlier  civilizations  of  the  East ;  and  his  later  studies  in 
connection  with  the  researches  of  Dr.  Edward  Glaser  in  South 
Arabia  have  poured  a  flood  of  light  on  the  influence  of  ancient 
Arabia  in  the  Oriental  world.  In  the  realm  of  Semitic  philology 
Dr.  Hommel  is  acute  minded,  and  peculiarly  alert  and  sugges- 
tive. 

Having  read  the  earlier  pages  of  "  The  Threshold  Covenant," 
Professor  Hommel  wrote  briefly  of  his  interest  in  the  main 
thought  of  the  work,  and  promised  further  comments  when  he 
has  completed  its  examination.  The  necessity  of  putting  these 
pages  to  press  forbids  the  waiting  for  his  valued  conclusions. 
His  first  comments  are : 

"  I  am  now  reading  with  great  interest  the  proof-sheets  of 
your  new  book,  which  you  were  kind  enough  to  send  me. 
Although  at  this  moment  overburdened  with  other  work,  I 
have  already  got  as  far  as  page  70,  and  hope  in  the  course  of  a 
fortnight  to  be  able  to  send  you  my  judgment. 

"  To  page  60  I  wish  now  to  note  that  already  in  the  time  of 
Hammurabi  disputes  were  settled  at  the  gate,  and,  indeed,  of 
the  gate  of  the  temple.  See  Strassmaier's  Warka  Tablets,  30 
(B.  57)  in  Meissner's  Beitrdze  zum  Altbabylonischen  Priva- 
trecht,  p.  42  f. 

"  An  interesting  discovery,  of  which  perhaps  you  still  may 


3 1 4  COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS. 

make  use,  I  made  yesterday.  It  is  that  the  Babylonian  supftu 
(' to  pray,'  'to  entreat')  is  originally  merely  the  verb  formed 
from  the  noun  sippu,  '  a  threshold.'  The  first  sense,  indeed,  of 
suftftu  is  '  to  sacrifice,'  because  that  was  done  at  the  threshold. 
To  find  a  parallel  for  this  transference  from  the  meaning  '  to 
offer'  to  the  meaning  'to  pray,  compare  the  Arabic  'dtdrd, 
to  sacrifice,'  with  the  Hebrew  '  dtdr,  to  pray.' x  To  this  discovery 
I,  of  course,  came  through  your  deductions  with  regard  to  the 
importance  of  the  threshold." 

FROM    PROFESSOR    DR.   A.    H.   SAYCE. 

No  Oriental  scholar  and  archeologist  is  more  widely  known 
in  Europe  and  America,  and  beyond,  or  is  surer  of  a  hearing 
on  any  subject  of  which  he  writes,  from  both  those  who  agree 
and  those  who  differ  with  him,  than  Professor  Sayce  of  Oxford 
University.  The  numerous  published  works  of  Professor 
Sayce  have  made  him  extensively  known  among  scholars,  and 
popularly.  Prominent  among  these  are  the  Hibbert  Lectures 
on  "The  Religion  of  the  Ancient  Babylonians,"  "The  An- 
cient Empires  of  the  East,"  "Fresh  Light  from  Ancient 
Monuments,"  "The  Life  and  Times  of  Isaiah,"  "The  Hit- 
tites,"  Patriarchal  Palestine,"  and  "The  Egypt  of  the  He- 
brews." He  now  writes  from  Luxor,  in  Egypt,  while  passing 
the  winter,  as  usual,  on  the  Nile,  in  his  dahabiyeh  Istar  : 

"A  thousand  thanks  for  the  advance  sheets  of  'The  Thresh- 
old Covenant.'  Like  all  your  work,  it  is  brimful  of  accurate 
knowledge  and  new  points  of  view,  and  is  written  so  charm- 

1  This  is  the  discovery  to  which  Professor  Hilprecht  refers  in  his  letter, 
Professor  Hommel's  note  having  been  received  just  before  Professor 
Hilprecht  sailed  for  Constantinople. 


COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS.  3  1 5 

ingly  that  a  child  could  understand  and  follow  you.  I  need 
not  say  I  have  been  devouring  the  pages  and  admiring  their 
wealth  of  references.  While  I  read,  you  carried  me  along  with 
you,  and,  if  you  had  asked  my  opinion  as  I  went  on,  I  should 
have  said  that  you  had  made  out  your  case  step  by  step.  But 
now  that  I  come  to  look  back  upon  the  work  as  a  whole,  the 
skeptical  side  of  my  nature  comes  uppermost,  and  I  have  an 
uneasy  feeling  that  the  proof  is  too  complete.  That  you  have 
made  out  your  case  to  a  large  extent  is  clear,  but  whether 
allowance  ought  not  to  be  made  for  other  elements  is  not  so 
clear  to  me.  Human  nature  is  complex,  and  we  still  know  so 
little  about  the  early  history  of  civilized  man  !  And  between 
civilized  and  uncivilized  man  the  gulf  seems  to  have  always 
been  as  great  as  it  is  today. ' ' 

FROM  PROFESSOR  DR.   W.    MAX  MULLER. 

As  an  Egyptologist,  Professor  Muller  is  recognized  for  his 
scholarship  and  learning  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  A 
favorite  pupil  of  Georg  Ebers,  he  continued  his  studies  at  the 
University  of  Berlin  under  Adolf  Erman,  and  soon  made  a 
mark  for  himself.  His  Asien  und  Enropa  nach  Altiigypt 
Denkmaller,  —  "Asia  and  Europe  from  the  Egyptian  Monu- 
ments,"— at  once  gave  him  high  standing  in  that  field.  Ex- 
pressing his  regret  that  he  was  not  able  to  give  more  time  to 
the  examination  of  "The  Threshold  Covenant"  in  its  proof- 
sheets,   he  says  : 

' '  You  did  not  hear  from  me  earlier  because  my  too  close 
occupation  prevented  my  studying  your  book  as  thoroughly  as 
I  wished,  and  contributing,  as  I  hoped  to,  something  on  the 
threshold  question.      Even  now  I  have  to  write  hastily. 


3 1 6  COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS. 

« « I  have  found  your  book  most  interesting  and  suggestive,  so 
that  I  heartily  recommend  its  publication.  I  hope  to  be  able 
to  read  it  more  carefully,  and  to  give  a  more  detailed  criticism, 
after  a  while. 

' '  A  few  remarks  : 

"Page  103. — Per-ao  [Pharaoh] — gate,  door.  Not  to  be 
proved.  Strangely,  the  root  pire  means  •  to  go  out. '  Origi- 
nally pr  may  have  been  'door,'  but  not  in  historic  times. 

"Page  1 6 1. — [Calling  the  region  of  Sinai,  the  'land  of  God'.] 
A  mistake  !  The  « land  of  God '  is  only  the  land  on  the  Red 
Sea.      No  such  records  known  of  Mt.  Sinai. 

"Page  180,  line  5. — [A  memorial  stone  spoken  of  as  mark- 
ing the  boundary  line.]  How  do  you  know  it  was  a  boundary 
stone  ? 

« '  There  is  rich  material  of  better  and  earlier  passages  on 
boundary  stones  than  that  given  on  page  180. 

' « El  gisr  means  « bridge. '  The  dictionaries  do  not  give 
1  threshold. ' 

"Page  184. — Sinai,  an  'Egyptian  boundary  line'?  Still 
less  did  the  'holy  mountain'  (p.  185)  ever  mark  the  southern 
frontier.  The  threshold  sacrifices  are  evidently  a  mistake. 
But  I  do  not  have  at  hand  Brugsch'  s  book — a  very  fanciful  and 
unreliable  book. 

"  I  hope  that  as  soon  as  a  very  pressing  work  has  been  fin- 
ished, I  shall  be  able  to  revise  all  your  passages  bearing  on 
Egypt  But  even  if  I  should  find  some  more  of  these  minor 
faults,  they  would  not  change  the  good  general  impression  of 
the  book." 

It  will  be  seen  that  none  of  the  points  questioned  by  Pro- 
fessor Miiller  are  vital  to  the  main  thesis  of  the  book,  or  essen- 
tial   to    its    illustration    of    the    prevalence    of    the    threshold 


COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS.  3  1 7 

covenant  customs  in  Egypt.  Moreover,  it  will  be  observed, 
by  a  reference  to  my  authorities  at  the  pages  mentioned,  that 
the  facts  and  opinions  I  have  presented  at  these  points  are 
on  the  authority  of  Brugsch  Bey  and  other  scholars.  The 
scholarship  of  Professor  Miiller,  of  course,  gives  him  the  right 
to  question  the  testimony  of  any  other  Egyptologist 

As  to  the  boundary  line  of  Egypt  in  the  Sinaitic  peninsula, 
that  simply  refers  to  the  famous  tablet  and  inscription,  in 
Wady  Maghara,  of  Snefru,  the  great  king  of  the  fourth  dynasty, 
when  he  had  first  extended  his  dominions  thus  far.1  What  was 
then  Egypt' s  boundary  line  of  conquest  in  that  direction  may, 
indeed,  not  have  continued  to  be  so.  The  same  may  be  said 
of  the  southern  boundary  of  Egypt  on  the  Nubian  frontier.2 

My  reasons  for  giving  « '  the  threshold '  *  as  a  meaning  of 
el gisr  are  to  be  found  in  full  in  my  "  Kadesh-barnea, "  at  pages 
5o.  339»  341  f- 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  Professor  Miiller  had  already  pointed 
out  to  me  the  existence  of  a  temple  at  Thebes  bearing  the  name 
of  the  "Silver  Threshold,"3  after  the  days  of  the  eighteenth 
dynasty.  He  promises  other  notes  in  this  direction  when  he 
has  time  for  further  research. 


FROM    PROFESSOR    DR.    C.    P.   TIELE. 

As  an  Orientalist,  and  as  a  student  of  religions,  Professor 
Tiele,  Professor  of  the  History  of  Religions  in  the  University 
of  Leyden,  has  a  position  of  eminence  before  the  world.      His 

1  See  Erman's  Life  in  Ancient  Egypt,  p.  468  f. ;  Maspero's  Dawn  of 
Civilization,  pp.  242,  note,  391. 

2  See  Erman,  pp.  467,  503,  and  Maspero,  pp.  484,  490. 
3  See  p.  127,  supra. 


3  1 8  COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS. 

publications  of  importance  are  numerous,  prominent  among 
which  stand  "The  Religion  of  Zarathustra  [Zoroaster];" 
"Comparative  History  of  the  Egyptian  and  Mesopotamian 
Religions  ;  "  "  The  Place  of  the  Religions  of  Savages  in  the 
History  of  Religion  ;  "  "  History  of  Religions  of  Antiquity  to 
the  Time  of  Alexander  the  Great  ;  ' '  and  « <  Babylonian-As- 
syrian History."  A  word  from  Professor  Tiele,  on  the  theme 
of  this  book,  has  exceptional  weight.      He  says  : 

"  I  thank  you  very  much  for  your  kindness  in  sending  me 
your  most  interesting  book,  'The  Threshold  Covenant' ...  As 
far  as  I  can  judge,  you  have  not  only  given  a  clear  exposition  of 
the  facts  pertaining  to  this  widespread  custom,  but  you  have 
also  shown  the  right  way  to  catch  the  meaning  underlying 
those  strange  usances. 

"  Of  late  I  have  been  mostly  occupied  by  the  study  of  the 
religions  of  civilized  people  ;  nevertheless,  I  ever  take  a 
lively  interest  in  the  study  of  primitive  man  and  the  origin  of 
religious  rites.  I  have  to  say  something  on  these  questions  in 
the  Gifford  Lectures,  which  I  have  been  invited  to  deliver 
before  the  University  of  Edinburgh  next  term.  So  your  book 
came  just  in  time  to  know  your  meaning  on  the  subject,  and  to 
revise  my  opinion  by  comparing  it  with  yours." 


FROM    PROFESSOR   DR.    E.   WASHBURN   HOPKIXS. 

The  successor,  at  Yale  University,  of  Professor  William  D. 
Whitney,  in  the  chair  of  Sanskrit  and  Comparative  Philology, 
is  Professor  E.  Washburn  Hopkins,  who  before  held  the  same 
chair  in  Bryn  Mawr  College.  This  fact  in  itself  is  an  indica- 
tion of  his  position  as  a  scholar;  and  his  latest  work,  "The 
Religions  of  India,"  in  the  series  of  "  Handbooks  on  the  His- 


COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS.  319 

tory  of  Religions,"  bears  testimony  to  his  learning  and  ability 
in  that  realm.     Of  the  matters  treated  in  this  volume  he  says: 

"  I  have  read  your  '  Threshold  Covenant  *  with  great  interest 
and  pleasure.  The  statements  made  in  respect  of  Hindu  rites 
all  appear  to  me  to  be  correct,  and  some  of  them  might  be 
made  stronger,  notably  in  the  case  of  the  functions  of  the  altar. 

"  I  cannot  say  that  I  agree  with  you  in  all  respects  in  your 
inductions  from  the  ceremonial  of  the  Door,  but  I  have  at  least 
been  furnished  with  much  food  for  reflection  and  hints  for 
observation  in  future  investigation  on  these  lines.  Your  work 
is  a  storehouse  of  useful  data,  and  illustrates  many  strange 
customs  of  India  by  parallels  from  other  countries,  though  I 
should  hesitate  to  refer  so  much  to  one  primitive  principle. 

"  But,  at  all  events,  the  facts  of  the  religious  phase  which 
you  emphasize  have  been  set  forth  clearly,  correctly,  and  fully, 
as  regards  India,  to  whatever  conclusion  they  may  point.  I 
have  had  great  pleasure  in  following  your  argument  through 
to  the  end." 

It  may  be  mentioned  that  the  added  facts  as  to  the  Door, 
given  in  the  Appendix,  were  not  in  the  proof-sheets  submitted 
to  Professor  Hopkins. 

FROM   THE   REV.    DR.   WILLIAM    ELLIOT   GRIFFIS. 

No  American  scholar  is  better  fitted  than  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Elliot  Griffis  to  speak  of  Japanese  manners  and  customs, 
and  of  the  religions  and  modes  of  thought  of  the  people  of 
Japan.  After  an  extended  residence  in  that  country  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Imperial  University  of  Tokio,  he  has  studied  and 
written  of  it  and  of  its  inhabitants.  "The  Mikado's  Empire," 
"The  Religions   of  Japan,"    "Japan  in    History,    Folk   Lore, 


320  COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS. 

and  Art,"  are  among  the  best  known  and  most  valuable  of  his 
works  in  that  field.  Of  "The  Threshold  Covenant"  he  says 
heartily,  after  an  examination  of  its  pages: 

• '  Your  general  theory  is  abundantly  confirmed  in  the  early 
life  and  customs  of  Chinese  Asia,  and  especially  in  the  history 
of  early  Japan.  I  should,  of  course,  be  glad  to  call  together  a 
council  of  native  Japanese  friends,  and  some  of  my  returned 
countrymen,  and  talk  over  your  book,  but  this  is  impossible  at 
present,  and  press  of  many  duties  prevents  me  from  doing 
justice  to  the  work,  as  I  should  like  to  do.  Such  observations 
as  I  may  throw  out,  though  imperfect,  will,  I  trust,  be  sugges- 
tive. I  have  read  the  book  twice,  and  consider  it  a  work  of 
the  first  order  of  value. 

' '  In  mediaeval  and  modern  Japan,  it  must  be  remembered, 
many  of  the  ancient  customs  and  primitive  native  ideas  have 
been  not  only  changed,  but  obliterated,  by  Buddhism,  which, 
by  its  excessive  reverence  for  life,  put  an  end  to  those  customs 
which  had  in  them  the  shedding  of  blood,  or  the  taking  of  life. 
In  ancient  days  it  was  the  pretty  nearly  universal  custom  to 
build  human  beings  alive  in  the  walls  of  castles  or  strongholds, 
and  the  piers  or  foundations  of  bridges.  Many  are  the  places 
rich  in  traditions  of  the  hito-gashira,  or  human  pillars,  who 
were  lowered  into  the  sea  to  be  drowned  (to  appease  the  dragon, 
etc.),  or  made,  as  it  were,  cement  for  the  foundation-stone, — 
to  which  I  have  alluded  in  my  «  Religions  of  Japan.' 

"What  may  be  called  the  'gate  etiquette'  in  Japan  is  elabo- 
rate and  detailed.  More  than  once  have  the  foreign  teachers, 
denizens,  and  tourists,  had  quarrels  with  the  Japanese  school, 
municipal,  and  national  authorities,  because  they  unwittingly 
often  violated  ancient  Japanese  traditions  and  customs.  I  my- 
self remember  how  the  mom-ban,  or  gate-keeper,  used  to  refuse 


COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS.  3  2 1 

admittance  to  my  jin-riki-sha  because  I  had  sitting  with  me  a 
Japanese  student  or  lad,  who  could  not,  in  native  ideas  of  pro- 
priety, share  with  me  (a  guest)  the  honor  of  riding  inside  the 
chief  gate  of  mansion  or  college.  Concerning  troubles  with 
native  servants  and  others,  who  were  inclined  to  shelter  them- 
selves under  the  foreigners'  prestige  and  privilege,  I  need  not 
speak  in  detail.  The  term  'Mikado,'  as  you  may  know,  is 
literally  Sublime  Porte,  Awful  Gate,  or  Portal  of  Majesty.  I 
believe  there  is  profound  significance  in  the  idea  of  having 
the  gatev/ay  to  a  Buddhist  temple  a  structure  which  is  in  many 
cases  almost  as  imposing  as  the  sacred  edifice  itself.  Each 
Shinto  shrine  has  before  it,  at  some  distance,  a  tori-i ;  and  every 
little  wayside  shrine,  in  size  from  a  doll-house  to  a  one-room 
cottage,  has  almost  invariably  a  little  tori-i,  or  gateway,  be- 
fore it. 

■  *  The  most  elaborate  ceremonies  and  gradations  of  honor  are 
connected  with  the  threshold  of  the  Imperial  Palace,  and  for  a 
thousand  years  or  more  were  rigorously  observed  in  Kioto,  and 
doubtless  to  great  extent  are  yet  in  the  new  palace  in  Tokio. 

"In  a  Japanese  marriage,  when  conducted  on  the  old  order 
of  ceremonies,  the  origin  of  which  goes  back  into  primeval 
twilight,  the  bride  goes  from  her  own  home  always  to  be  mar- 
ried in  her  husband' s  home  and  to  become  a  part  of  it.  As  she 
approaches  her  new  home,  fires  are  lighted  on  either  side  of 
the  threshold  or  door  of  entrance  of  the  bridegroom' s  house. 
The  name  of  these  fires  is  'garden  torches.'  As  she  pro- 
ceeds up  the  corridor,  inside  the  house,  two  pairs  of  men  and 
women,  one  on  each  side,  have  mortars  in  which  they  pound 
rice.  As  the  palanquin  passes,  the  two  mortars  are  moved 
together,  and  the  meal  from  the  two  is  mixed  so  as  to  become 
one  mess.       During   the  same  time  two  candles   have  been 

21 


322  COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS. 

lighted  on  either  side  of  the  passage  way,  and  after  the  passing 
of  the  palanquin,  the  two  flames  are  first  joined  in  one  and 
then  blown  out.  Of  course,  these  ceremonies  are  now  used 
only  among  the  higher  classes. 

' '  In  all  the  Buddhist  temples  beside  the  great  gateway  and 
the  ordinary  temple  entrance  there  is  a  distinctly  marked  sill, 
behind  which  is  the  altar,  and  over  which  the  worshiper  must 
not  come. 

« '  I  am  very  much  inclined  to  believe  that  there  is  a  signifi- 
cance which  allies  itself  to  'The  Threshold  Covenant'  in  the 
ye-bumi  or  'trampling  on  the  cross,'  observed  during  the 
seventeenth,  eighteenth,  and  nineteenth  centuries  in  Japan 
in  order  to  eradicate  all  traces  of  Christianity.  The  pagan 
authorities  made  a  copper  engraving  of  the  crucifix,  and  put- 
ting it  on  the  ground,  between  a  structure  that  was  evidently 
meant  for  the  doorway  with  a  threshold  under  it,  they  com- 
pelled every  one — man,  woman,  and  child — to  step  upon  the 
figure  of  Christ  and  the  cross  in  token  of  their  rejection  of 
everything  belonging  to  Christianity. 

"In  ancient  Japan,  and  all  through  her  history,  great  care  was 
taken  with  boundaries  and  boundary  marks,  the  latter  being 
sometimes  masses  of  charcoal  buried  in  the  earth,  or  inscribed 
pillars,  the  bases  of  which  were  charred.  Mr.  Ernest  Satow,  the 
first  authority  on  things  Japanese,  believes  that  these  boundary 
pillars,  which,  in  some  cases  (as  in  Corea  today),  were  carved 
to  represent  certain  gods,  afterwards  became  phallic  emblems. 
Before  most  of  the  Buddhist  temples  of  importance  are  to  be 
found  the  two  guardian  deities  Ni-o  (two  kings),  and  before 
many  thousands  of  shrines  of  both  Shinto  and  Buddhism  is 
the  ama-inu  (heavenly  dogs),  which  are  the  guardians  of  the 
entrance  to  the  temple. 


COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS.  323 

1 '  Time  would  fail  me  to  tell  of  the  various  fetiches  placed  over 
and  beside  the  doorways  and  gates.  Beside  the  very  elaborate 
New  Year's  symbolism  signifying  prosperity,  longevity,  con- 
gratulations, etc.,  there  is  always,  on  the  last  night  of  the  year, 
a  sort  of  'purging  out  of  the  old  leaven,'  cleaning  up  of  the 
house,  and  exorcism,  by  means  of  beans  as  projectiles,  of  all 
evil  and  evil  spirits.  Then  bunches  of  thorny  leaves,  like 
holly,  are  affixed  outside  on  the  door  lintel.  Over  the  door- 
way of  almost  every  house  of  country  folk  and  many  of  the 
townspeople,  one  can  see  the  wooden  charms  nailed  up. 
These  are  bought  in  the  temples  of  the  priests  as  well  as  the 
packages  of  sacred  paper  with  Sanskrit  letters  or  monograms 
for  the  better  class  of  houses. 

"Besides  the  red  cord  with  which  almost  every  present  in 
Japan  is  tied,  the  stamp  of  the  red  hand  on  or  at  the  side  of  the 
door,  either  on  the  wood  itself  or  on  a  sheet  of  paper,  nailed 
up  beside  the  door,  is  very  common  at  particular  times. 

"The  Mecca  of  Japanese  Shinto  is  at  Ise,  where  the  temples 
have  had  from  time  immemorial  'only  one  foundation.'  The 
buildings  are  renewed  every  twenty  years  on  the  same  spot 
For  many  centuries  it  has  been  the  custom  to  rebuild  Buddhist 
temples  on  the  same  foundation  when  destroyed  by  fire,  or 
when    'captured'  from  Shintoist  to  Buddhist  ownership.   .   .    . 

' '  Let  me  call  your  attention  to  the  idea  underlying  the  political 
and  religious  covenant  of  the  great  Iroquois  Confederacy — the 
most  remarkable  political  structure  of  North  American  Indian 
life.  The  five  tribes  (later  a  sixth  was  added)  called  their 
dwelling-place  in  New  York,  between  Niagara  and  the  Hudson 
'the  Long  House'  after  the  typical  Iroquois  dwelling  in  which 
lived  many  families.  Few  Iroquois  lived  east  of  Schenectady, 
though   they  went  to   fish   in   the   Hudson   River,  which  they 


324  COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS. 

then  named  (a)  'Schenectady.'  Schenectady  (which  in  the 
Indian  conception  was  the  region  in  their  extreme  east)  means, 
when  analyzed,  'just  outside  the  threshold,'  or  'without  the 
door.'  While  Onondaga  was  the  central  fore-place  of  the 
Confederacy,  the  site  of  Schenectady  had  special  sacredness  in 
the  minds  of  the  Iroquois,  and  the  Mohawks,  who  occupied 
this  portion  of  the  country,  were  called  '  the  guardians  of  the 
threshold.' 

"Van  Curler  (Arendt  Van  Curler),  one  of  the  real  'makers  of 
America,'  who  knew  the  Indians  so  well,  and  who  made  that 
great  covenant  with  them  which  kept  the  Iroquois,  despite  all 
French  intrigue,  bribery,  and  opposition,  faithful  (for  two  cen- 
turies, till  the  Revolution  divided  even  the  white  men),  first  to 
the  Dutch,  then  to  the  English,  knew  this  Indian  reverence  for 
the  threshold,  and  took  a  just  advantage  of  it.  The  fact  that 
'The  Covenant  of  Corlear'  was  made  on  the  threshold  of  their 
Long  House  gave  it  such  sacredness  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Indians  that  it  was  never  broken.  In  all  their  later  oratory,  for 
two  centuries  they  referred  to  this  covenant  Besides  calling 
the  governors  of  New  York  'Corlear'  (the  only  instance,  as 
Francis  Parkman  once  wrote  me,  in  which  the  Indians  applied 
a  personal  name  instead  of  making  use  of  a  material  object, 
figuratively,  to  a  governor,  —  'fish,'  "pen,'  'big  mountain,' 
etc.),  the  Mohawks  of  Canada  to  this  day,  as  I  heard  them 
speak  it  after  personal  inquiry,  call  Queen  Victoria  '  Kora 
Kowa,'  that  is,   'the  great  Corlear'  (Van  Curler)." 

FROM    PROFESSOR    DR.   JOHN    P.    MAHAFFY. 

As  an  authority  in  the  field  of  Greek  antiquities,  as  well  as 
a  scholar  of  wide  learning  in  various  other  fields,  Professor 
Mahaffy,  of  Dublin  University,  stands  in  high  repute.     Among 


COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS.  3  2 5 

his  many  published  works,  in  proof  of  this,  are  his  "Twelve 
Lectures  on  Primitive  Civilization,"  "  Prolegomena  to  Ancient 
History,"  "Social  Life  in  Greece  from  Homer  to  Menander," 
"Greek  Antiquities,"  "Rambles  and  Studies  in  Greece," 
"Greek  Life  and  Thought  from  Alexander  to  the  Roman  Con- 
quest," "The  Greek  World  under  Roman  Sway,"  and  "The 
Empire  of  the  Ptolemies."  Returning  the  proof-sheets  of 
"The  Threshold  Covenant"  to  the  author,  he  says  generously  : 
"Your  learning  is  to  me  quite  astonishing,  and  I  could  not 
venture  to  criticise  you  except  in  a  passing  way,  as  I  read  your 
proofs  hastily.  But  you  will  find  [on  them]  rough  notes  in 
pencil,  only  to  show  what  I  thought  at  the  moment." 

In  comment  on  the  custom,  in  many  lands,  of  carrying  out 
the  dead  from  a  house  or  a  city  through  a  special  door  or  gate, 
instead  of  over  the  threshold  at  the  principal  entrance,1  he 
says:  "At  present,  in  the  farmhouses  about  Hoorn,  in  Hol- 
land, there  is  a  state  door  opened  only  for  marriages  and 
funerals.  The  family  use  a  side  or  back  door  only. ' ' 2  Again, 
"the  lepa  ttvIti  {hiera  pule,  'sacred  gate')  at  Athens  seems  to 
have  been  an  accursed  gate,  through  which  criminals  only  were 
led  out." 

In  confirmation  of  the  claim  that  human  life,  or  blood,  was 
deemed  essential  in  the  foundation,  or  the  threshold  laying  of 
a  city,3  Professor  Mahaffy  says  :  "Great  Hellenistic  cities,  as, 
for  instance,  Antioch,  had  a  girl  sacrificed  at  their  foundation. 

1  See  pp.  23-25,  supra. 
2  This  was  so  in  parts  of  New  England,  fifty  years  ago.  I  have  seen 
the  main  hall  or  front  "entry"  of  a  farmhouse  in  Connecticut  used  as  a 
bedroom,  with  a  high-post  state  bedstead  against  the  front  door.  In  case 
of  a  funeral  or  wedding  the  bedstead  would  be  removed,  in  order  that  the 
door  might  be  opened. — H.  C.  T. 

3  See  pp.  45-57,  supra. 


326  COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS. 

It  was  she,  apparently,  that  afterwards  appeared  as  the  personi- 
fication of  the  city,  ?/  rbxy  \he  tucke,  'the  fortune,']  as  it  was 
called. ' ' 

"The  'red  hand  of  the  O'Neills'  is  a  famous  coat-of-arms 
well  known  in  Ireland.      Lord  O'  Neill  now  bears  it ' ' 

As  to  my  assumption  that  the  first  hearthstone  must  have 
been,  in  the  nature  of  things,  at  the  threshold  of  the  cave  or 
tent  or  hut,  as  it  still  is  among  primitive  peoples,  and  that  the 
first  stone  laid  at  the  corner,  or  at  the  doorway,  of  a  house  or 
building,  was,  by  the  very  fact  of  its  first  laying,  the  threshold 
of  that  structure,  Professor  Mahaffy  says  :  "I  don't  believe 
in  the  identification  of  (i)  foundation  stone,  (2)  threshold,  (3) 
house  corner,  (4)  hearthstone,  without  clear  proof." 

FROM    PROFESSOR   DR.   WILLIAM   A.   LAMBERTON. 

In  Dr.  Lamberton,  Professor  of  Greek,  and  Dean  of  the 
Department  of  Philosophy,  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 
has  a  scholar  as  acute  and  discerning  in  his  observations  as 
he  is  full  and  accurate  in  knowledge  in  his  special  field  of 
classic  Greek.  He  has  been  familiar  with  the  results  of  my 
researches  during  my  progress  of  recent  years,  and  he  has 
this  to  say,  after  examining  the  proof-sheets  of  the  completed 
work  : 

' '  Your  induction  seems  to  me  to  be  very  wide,  and  to  include 
in  its  sweep  all  phases  of  civilization,  which  is  practically  as 
much  as  to  say  all  periods  of  human  existence,  from  the  most 
primitive  on. 

' '  The  significance  of  the  threshold  as  altar,  place  of  cove- 
nanting and  worship,  in  house,  temple,  and  domain,  I  think  is 
completely  made  out. 


COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS.  327 

"Very  striking  is  the  smiting  of  the  blood,  as  sign  of  the 
covenant  relation,  upon  the  posts  of  the  doorway  ;  and  in  par- 
ticular the  mark  of  the  red  hand.  The  connection  you  en- 
deavor to  show  between  all  this  and  the  marriage  rite  is,  to  say 
the  least  of  it,  suggestive.  The  mystery  of  the  gift  and  trans- 
mission of  life,  it  has  always  seemed  to  me,  early  struck  man  ; 
and  that  it  did  not  have  its  issue  only  in  perverted  forms,  is 
clear  from  the  fragmentary  glimpses  we  get  into  the  Eleusinian 
mysteries,  celebrated  in  honor  of  divinities  of  productivity. 
Purification  from  sin  and  blessedness  in  the  next  world  appear 
to  have  been  among  the  hopes  of  the  initiated. 

' '  May  I  call  your  attention  to  one  or  two  points  ?  The 
Greek  word  for  altar,  pujudg  (bomos),  altar,  from  root  ,3a  (da), 
seen  in  (Salveiv  (baineiti),  '  to  step. ' 

"  May  not  the  whipping  of  the  boys  mentioned  on  page  175 
be  a  misinterpreted  substitute  for  sacrifices  at  the  boundary 
posts,  perhaps  even  at  one  time  human  sacrifices  ?  Such  later 
modifications  of  sacrifice  into  symbolic  whippings  are  not 
unheard  of  elsewhere." 

Professor  Lamberton's  suggestion  that  the  Greek  word  for 
altar  has  its  origin  in  a  "step"  has  confirmation  in  the  fact, 
already  noted,  that  the  earliest  temples  were  a  shrine  at  the 
summit  of  a  series  of  steps,  as  in  a  step-pyramid,  in  Babylonia, 
Egypt,  Canaan,  Mexico,  Peru,  and  the  South  Sea  Islands.1  Is 
there  not  a  reference  to  this  ordinary  mode  of  building  an  altar 
among  the  outside  nations,  in  the  divine  command  to  Israel  in 
the  wilderness  as  to  the  building  of  an  altar  to  Jehovah  ? 
"  Neither  shalt  thou  go  up  by  steps  unto  mine  altar,  that  thy 
nakedness  be  not  discovered  thereon. ' ' 2 

1  See  p.  in  f.,  supra.  2  Exod.  20  :  26. 


328  COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS. 


FROM    PROFESSOR    DR.    DANIEL   G.   BRINTON. 

In  the  realm  of  American  antiquities,  and  of  anthropology  gen- 
erally, Dr.  Brinton,  Professor  of  American  Archaeology  and 
Linguistics  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  stands  foremost. 
He  has  been  President  of  the  American  Association  for  the 
Advancement  of  Science  ;  and  his  knowledge  and  his  work 
have  had  marked  recognition  in  the  International  Oriental 
Congresses,  in  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  in  the 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  and  in  other  learned  bodies. 
He  writes  : 

• '  I  have  gone  over,  with  constantly  increasing  interest,  your 
pages  on  'The  Threshold  Covenant,'  an  interest  associated 
with  admiration  of  the  wide  reading  you  have  brought  to  bear 
on  the  theme,  and  the  temperate  and  enlightened  spirit  in 
which  you  have  presented  the  facts. 

"You  have,  without  question,  established  the  practical 
universality  of  the  rites  and  ceremonies  you  describe,  and  the 
ideas  from  which  they  took  their  origin.  Your  volume  is 
another  and  powerful  witness  to  the  parallelisms  of  culture,  and 
to  the  unity  in  the  forms  of  expression  of  the  human  mind. 

"  These  analogies  and  identities  are,  as  you  well  know,  open 
to  several  interpretations  or  explanations.  The  main  one 
offered  by  you  seems  to  me,  as  a  fact,  quite  probable  ;  cer- 
tainly it  was  constantly  associated  with  such  rites. 

"lam  not  able  altogether  to  agree  with  the  point  of  view 
expressed  in  your  Preface,  and  on  pages  193-195,  in  reference 
to  the  general  origin  and  trend  of  religious  ideas  ;  but  possibly 
I  should  find  myself  closer  to  your  position  were  I  to  see  it 
more   amply   defined.       I   cannot  think  the  earliest    religions 


COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS.  329 

were,  as  a  rule,  more  'uplifting'  than  the  later  ones;  I  think 
there  was  a  general  progress  upwards. ' ' 


FROM   THE  REV.  DR.  EDWARD  T.  BARTLETT. 

Dean  Bartlett,  of  the  Divinity  School  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  of  Philadelphia,  is  prominent  as  a  devout  and 
careful  Bible  scholar,  who  has  the  confidence  of  the  Christian 
community  to  a  rare  degree.  He  was  the  first  president  of  the 
American  Institute  of  Sacred  Literature,  and  he  is  the  vice- 
president  of  the  Society  of  Biblical  Literature  and  Exegesis. 
His  work,  on  the  "Scriptures  Hebrew  and  Christian,"  as  an 
introduction  to  the  study  of  the  Bible,  won  for  him  commenda- 
tion from  eminent  scholars.  Having  read  the  proof-sheets  of 
this  book,  Dean  Bartlett  writes  : 

"  I  thank  you  for  the  opportunity  to  read  your  book  '  The 
Threshold  Covenant.'  And  I  also  want  to  thank  you  for  allow- 
ing me  to  know  something  of  the  growth  of  your  thought  on 
the  subject,  in  the  frequent  conversations  we  have  had  about  it 
during  the  years  past.  Ever  since  I  came  into  the  privilege  of 
calling  you  friend  I  have  been  a  witness  of  the  truth  of  your 
statement  in  the  Preface,  that  your  theory  is  wholly  a  result  of 
induction,  that  it  came  to  you  out  of  the  gathered  facts,  instead 
of  the  facts  being  gathered  in  support  of  the  theory.  What  I 
know  as  to  your  method  would  lead  me  to  expect  a  result  that 
must  stand,  and  there  are  few  writers  who  would  be  for  me  as 
authoritative  as  you  in  matters  which  I  could  not  verify  for 
myself.     But  here  you  furnish  the  means  of  verification. 

"  As  the  subject  has  come  up  between  us  from  time  to  time 
and  part  by  part,  I  have  been  led  to  think  over  what  you  told 
me,  and  it  has  seemed  to  me  that  nothing  could  exceed  the 


33°  COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS, 

care  with  which  you  advanced  in  your  induction.  And  now 
that  I  review  the  work  as  a  whole,  I  am  convinced  that  you 
have  demonstrated  your  theory.  In  doing  so,  you  have  thrown 
a  whole  flood  of  new  bright  light  on  primitive  culture,  on  some 
of  the  sacredest  phases  of  human  life  in  all  ages,  on  many 
places  of  Scripture  from  the  first  chapter  to  the  last,  and  on  the 
central  sacraments  of  the  Old  and  New  Covenants. 

"If  this  light  came  to  me  now  for  the  first  time  in  all  its 
fulness,  I  am  not  sure  whether  I  should  be  startled  and  almost 
blinded  by  it,  or  whether  I  should,  at  first  at  least,  altogether 
fail  to  appreciate  it.  But  you  have  been  giving  it  to  me  gradu- 
ally as  it  came  to  you,  and  so  I  have  been  in  a  position  to 
become  adjusted  to  it,  and  also  to  test  its  illumining  quality. 
I  find  that  it  is  not  transitory,  but  permanent,  not  a  flash  but  a 
steady  light,  in  which  the  great  objects  of  our  Christian  faith 
stand  clearly  revealed. 

"  I  sincerely  congratulate  you  upon  the  completion  of  such 
an  important  and  illuminating  work." 


FROM    PROFESSOR   DR.  T.    K.   CHEYNE. 

Just  as  the  final  pages  of  this  volume  are  going  to  press, 
a  valued  communication  concerning  them  is  received  from 
Professor  Cheyne,  of  Oxford  University.  Professor  Cheyne  is 
Oriel  Professor  of  the  Interpretation  of  Holy  Scripture  at 
Oxford,  and  Canon  of  Rochester.  He  is  well  known  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic  as  a  prominent  English  representative  of 
the  school  of  modern  "higher  criticism,"  or  "historical  criti- 
cism." He  was  a  member  of  the  Old  Testament  Revision 
Company,  and  he  contributed  many  important  articles  on 
biblical  subjects  to  the  ninth  edition  of  the  "  Encyclopaedia 


COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS.  3 3  I 

Britannica."  In  1889  he  delivered  the  Bampton  Lectures  on 
"The  Historical  Origin  and  Religious  Ideas  of  the  Psalter," 
and  his  various  works  on  Old  Testament  literature,  including 
Job,  the  Psalms,  Solomon,  Isaiah,  and  Jeremiah,  have  made 
him  familiar  to  English  readers  the  world  over.  The  kindly, 
frank,  and  courteous  comments  of  Professor  Cheyne  on  "  The 
Threshold  Covenant"  are  the  more  highly  valued  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  he  has  had  occasion  to  suppose  that  the  author's 
standpoint  of  biblical  criticism  was  not  quite  the  same  as  his 
own.     He  says : 

"  I  am  delighted  to  have  been  able  to  make  early  acquaint- 
ance with  a  book  so  full  of  facts  which  really  illuminate  the 
dark  places  of  primitive  times.  That  the  explanation  of  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures  profits  much  by  it,  is  clear.  Thank  you  for 
having  devoted  so  much  patient  and  thoughtful  care  to  the 
accumulation  and  interpretation  of  the  facts.  I  have  never 
doubted  your  singular  capacity  for  archeological  work,  and 
have  only  regretted  that  there  has  not  been  greater  fellow-feel- 
ing with  the  critics  (in  the  popular  sense, — for  you,  too,  are  criti- 
cal, though  not  quite  in  the  right  sense  and  to  the  extent 
required,  if  I  may  personally  say  this). 

"  I  notice  on  page  46  f.  a  reference  to  the  foundation  of  Jeri- 
cho by  Hiel.  It  appears  to  me  that  the  idea  suggested  by 
archeology  is  only  defensible  on  the  principles  generally  asso- 
ciated with  '  historical  criticism.'  If  this  idea  is  in  any  way 
historically  connected  with  the  act  of  Hiel  related  in  1  Kings 
16  :  34  (wanting  in  LXX),  and  pointed  to,  whether  in  reality  or 
in  the  honest,  though  faulty,  imagination  of  the  writer,  in  Joshua 
6  :  26,  we  must  suppose  that  the  act  of  Hiel  was  misunderstood 
by  the  critics  of  these  two  passages.  For  the  deaths  of  Abiram 
and  Segub  are  referred  to  as  divine  judgments  upon  Hiel  for  his 


332  COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS. 

violation  of  the  herein,  or  ban,  laid  upon  the  site  of  Jericho, 
whereas,  according  to  the  archeological  theory,  Hiel  offered 
his  children  as  foundation  sacrifices,  believing  that  he  could 
thus  bring  a  blessing  on  the  city  of  Jericho.  No  plain  reader 
will  understand  the  connection  of  the  archeological  idea  and 
the  two  passages  of  Old  Testament— as  it  appears  to  me. 

"  The  connection  has  been  surmised  by  others  before  you,— 
probably  you  can  tell  me  who  first  struck  out  the  idea.  Is  it  in 
Tylor,  or  where?  I  cannot  remember.  Winckler  (Geschichte 
Israel,  Part  I,  1895)  expresses  his  adhesion  to  it.  Kuenen 
(Onderzoek,  I  [1885],  p.  233)  holds  that  there  was  a  misunder- 
standing of  the  traditional  facts  on  the  part  of  the  author  of  the 
prediction  in  Joshua  6  :  26  in  its  present  form,  and  of  the 
author  of  the  notice  in  1  Kings  16  :  34 ;  he  thinks  that  Hiel 
sacrificed  his  two  sons,  but  does  not  appear  to  recall  the  archeo- 
logical facts.  I  think  he  ought  to  have  recalled  them.  But  he 
is  right  in  the  main,  as  it  seems  to  me. 

I  have  no  prejudice  against  archeological  illustrations  of 
customs  or  of  phraseology.  On  the  contrary,  I  delight  in  them. 
I  have  for  many  years  been  on  the  archeological  side,  as  well 
as  on  the  critical.  .  .  . 

"  Robertson  Smith  took  the  right  course,  at  once  critical  and 
archeological.  Only  he  could  not  do  everything,  and  he  pur- 
posed to  limit  himself,  to  a  great  extent,  to  those  branches  of 
archeology  which  he  knew  at  first  hand,  or  in  which  he  could 
trust  the  experts.  He  would  not  trust  the  English  (biblical) 
archeologists,  because  they  were  not  critical. 

"Are  you  right  about  (God's)  'strong  hand,'  etc.,  page  83? 
And  what  connection  has  teraphim  with  threshold  (p.  109)  ? 
Bonomi  is  no  critic.  You  are  very  convincing  about  the  pass- 
over  blood. 


COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS.  333 

"  I  will  write  again  if  any  special  notes  suggest  themselves.  A 
number  of  references  in  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New  Testa- 
ment must  be  open  to  divers  interpretations  ;  but  I  habitually 
act  upon  your  own  principles.  Phrases  which  seem  to  us 
simple,  are  often  full  of  references  which  archeology  alone  can 
explain.     Macte  esto." 

ADDITIONAL   FROM    PROFESSOR    DR.   FRITZ     HOMMEL. 

Before  this  Supplement  is  finally  printed,  there  comes  a 
second  communication  from  Professor  Hommel  of  Munich, 
as  already  promised  by  him.1  In  this  new  communication 
are  suggestions  and  words  of  appreciation  that  will  be  wel- 
comed by  many  readers,  as  coming  from  such  a  source.  Pro- 
fessor Hommel  says  : 

' '  Only  a  few  days  ago  I  finished  reading  your  highly  inter- 
esting little  book,  'The  Threshold  Covenant,'  and  I  hasten  to 
write  to  you,  that  I  have  read  it  with  ever-increasing  interest, 
and  have  learned  infinitely  much  from  it.  Our  views  regard- 
ing the  high  antiquity  and  the  unity  of  human  culture  receive 
entirely  new  light  through  this  work  ;  in  addition,  a  large 
number  of  old  oriental  and  biblical  ways  and  customs  now 
become  intelligible  and  clear. 

"  Manifestly  correct,  and  indeed  most  happy,  is  your  deriva- 
tion of  the  threshold  cult,  and  of  sacrifice  in  general,  from 
the  first  human  blood  shed  on  crossing  the  threshold  of 
woman  ;  also  the  important  explanation  of  the  signs  for  life, 
which  I  have  compared  :  Egyptian,  Q  ;  Babylonian,  X  .  (Com- 
pare "S57  vulva.)  Moreover,  your  1  explanation  v  of  the 
passover  is  much  more  satisfactory  than  taking  pesakh  in  the 

sense  of  'to  pass  by.' 

1  See  p.  313,  supra. 


334  COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS. 

"  Permit  me  now  to  offer  a  few  remarks,  of  which  you  may 
still  be  able  to  avail  yourself. 

"  With  the  symbol  of  the  red  hand  may  also  be  compared 
the  hands  upon  the  Sabaean  bronze  tablets  (Z.  D.  M.  G. ,  Vol. 
19,  plate  XI.,  and  especially  plate  VII.),  where  fourteen  hands 
of  seven  gods  are  pictured  above  the  inscription.  Furthermore, 
see  Pinches'  Inscribed  Babylonian  Tablets,  belonging  to  the 
collection  of  Sir  Henry  Peek,  Part  III.,  p.  66  ;  a  seal  cylinder, 
on  which  appears  a  raised  hand  between  the  god  and  the 
priest. 

"On  page  100  [of  your  book]. — More  accurately,  I  is  house 
as  well  as  temple  ;  I-GAL  is  palace  (i-gal  ikallu)  ;  but  Hebrew 
and  Arabic  hekal  is  'temple,'  'Holy  of  Holies'  (Hebrew, 
also  '  palace  ' ). 

"On  page  105. — That  the  design  in  question,  on  the  old 
Babylonian  seal  cylinder,  represents  the  sun  gates,  is  a  dis- 
covery made  by  your  own  countryman,  Dr.  W.  Hayes  Ward 
(American  Journal  of  Archeology,  III.,  nos.  1-2,  p.  52). 

"  On  page  108. — The  Arabic  mihrab  is  a  loan  word  from 
the  South  Arabic  and  Ethiopic,  tnikrab,  temple  ;  literally, 
'  praying-place.' 

"On  page  171. — In  South  Arabic  inscriptions  wathan  signi- 
fies '  boundary-pillar, '  and  at  the  same  time  '  statue  of  god, ' 
'idol.' 

"On  page  180. — El gisr  is  literally  'bridge.'  The  bridge 
was  also  looked  upon  as  a  gate,  as  leading  from  one  shore  to 
the  other. 

"On  page  229.  — Sacred  prostitution.  Compare  Babylonia 
kadislitu  (literally,  holy  person),  Hebrew  kadusha,   'harlot.' 

"On  page  233  (note). — The  Babylonian patanu,  'to  hold  the 
sacrificial  meal,'   'to  eat,'  naptanu,  'meal,'   is  connected  with 


COMMENTS  OF  SPECIALISTS.  3  3  5 

Hebrew  mifiktan.  I  am  inclined  to  believe  also  that  the 
Babylonian  < gis/i-da=pitnu,  really  means  'threshold;'  also 
ihsAgish-sa,  ush-sa,  a  bridal  gift,  is  originally  'threshold.* 

"On  page  234.— The  'serpent'  of  the  boundary  stone  was 
originally  the  Milky  Way.  The  other  symbols  are  animals  of 
the  Zodiac. 

"On  page  235  (note  3).—  Compare,  also,  Hommel,  Babylo- 
nische  Ursprung  der  AZgypt.  Kultur  (fight  of  Merodach  with 
the  serpent= fight  of  Re  'with  'Apep '). 

"On  page  i&.—Nekhushtan,  the  name  the  serpent  of 
Moses,  is  derived  from  j-^^,  <vuiva;  or,  at  all  events,  is 
related  to  this  word." 


Date  Due 


L . 


m 


My  3  0  '4 


BL617  .T867 

The  threshold  covenant, 

Princeton  Theolog,cal  Seminary-Spe^L.bra^ 


1      1 


012  00009  4716 


